Blumhouse’s R-Rated Sci-Fi’s RT Record Is The Final Nail In The Coffin For $220M Franchise

Blumhouse seemingly caught lightning in a bottle with their $220 million sci-fi horror franchise, but the series’ latest failure is the final nail in the coffin. Blumhouse is no stranger to success, and the company has delivered some of the most popular horror films of the last 20 years. They’ve been able to pivot their success into ongoing franchises, and have reaped the financial rewards.

While it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses, Blumhouse still has something of a Midas touch when it comes to the modern horror landscape. Keeping budgets low and profits high has been the secret to their success, and it has paid off on numerous occasions. For every misstep, Blumhouse has had a handful of wins that offset any miscalculations on their part. Some hits, like Five Nights at Freddy’s, made enough to finance other flicks.

Going all the way back to 2009’s Paranormal Activity, Blumhouse’s deft marketing has played a key role in their growth. With box offices becoming increasingly competitive in the 2020s, that marketing skill is what puts them ahead of the other companies in the horror space. Often times, marketing sells a movie more than its quality.

All that said, one Blumhouse franchise represents the studio’s greatest failure. It started off so promising, but has since faded into obscurity as a mere husk of its former glory. The series never really had a chance to flourish, and after only a few years, is probably gone for good. Cinema is a fickle industry, but this franchise didn’t have to bomb so hard.

Soulm8te’s Reviews & VoD Release Suggest The M3GAN Franchise Is Dead

The M3GAN spinoff, Soulm8te, was unceremoniously dropped on VoD in early August, and it landed with a dull thud. The film has earned a middling 55% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it the worst-reviewed film of the three-movie series. What’s worse, the film’s 5.8 score on IMDb (currently) means even the generally accepting horror community has resoundingly rejected the Universal cast-off.

SOULM8TE was supposed to have a theatrical release back in January, but Universal changed their minds and let the film sit for most of the year. This isn’t just bad news for the spinoff, but it likely means that the M3GAN franchise is officially dead. The poor performance of M3GAN 2.0 was the first warning that things weren’t right, and Soulm8te‘s lackluster reviews sealed the deal. One bad movie can tank a franchise, but two is a death sentence.

Digital-only releases aren’t always the end of the world, but they require a pretty strong marketing push. Universal distanced themselves from Soulm8te so completely that the film had no chance to be a success. Audiences can’t be expected to buy a movie on VoD for $20 if the studio that made it seems to want nothing to do with the project. In only four years, the M3GAN franchise sank from nearly $200 million at the box office to a straight-to-VoD release.

What Went Wrong With Blumhouse’s M3GAN Franchise?

Released in 2022, M3GAN scored an impressive $181 million at the box office, making it one of Blumhouse’s highest-grossing movies ever. The tongue-in-cheek sci-fi horror flick grew in popularity thanks to tons of internet memes, and the titular character became something of a modern horror icon overnight. Therein lies the biggest problem with M3GAN as a horror franchise. That sort of success is almost impossible to intentionally replicate.

The first film was actually pretty good, but that’s not why it was a resounding success. It was genuinely funny, and became doubly so thanks to the aforementioned memes. However, M3GAN 2.0 tried way too hard to lean into the random humor of its internet fans, and it failed spectacularly. That kind of tone must grow organically, and can’t be manufactured. Ironically, the M3GAN franchise faltered because it was too synthetic.

Fast-forward to 2026, and almost nobody is asking for a M3GAN spinoff. It’s bad enough that the sequel couldn’t get the title character right, but a film totally devoid of the original’s charm is a recipe for mediocrity at best and disaster at worst. The Blumhouse franchise failed before it ever really became a franchise, and the total lack of effort when making Soulm8te made sure the series died quickly.

Source: Box Office Mojo

Cast

Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Ronny Chieng, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Stephane Garneau-Monten, Lori Dungey, Jack Cassidy

Latest Film

M3GAN

Upcoming Films

M3GAN 2.0, SOULM8TE

Spin-offs (Movies)

SOULM8TE