Jason Blum is arguably one of the most well-liked creatives in Hollywood both among his peers and superiors, enough so that even in failure that reputation seems to be Teflon-like. We mused about this in great detail almost two years ago when he put the Blumhouse brand on THE EXORCIST, an effort that wasn’t well received at all. Off a $400 million investment on the part of Universal, which expected a trilogy that they saw as a golden ticket to make Peacock a Halloween destination for years, his 50th anniversary “extension”, subtitled BELIEVER, limped to a $137 million box office gross that quickly killed those plans, especially after a deadly one-two rejection from both IMDB (4.8/10) and Rotten Tomatoes (a truly horrific 22 Tomatometer score from critics). 
And yet, even in that wake, his genius and approach was still being lauded, especially in light of the fact that at the outset of 2023 he had successfully introduced a new character that tapped into the increasingly trendy and buzzworthy world of artificial intelligence with M3GAN, which had everything going for it to capture Gens Z and A. An attractive antihero, with GIRLS alum Alison Williams as the lead. A touching plot line that featured a “bad” “girl” giving some needed love to an otherwise detached good one, which in the wake of what was becoming yet another COVID-impacted winter was almost uncomfortably relatable. And a REALLY good RT score of 93.
So with those factoids and encouragement the bar for its inevitable sequel was raised dramatically. It was chosen as one of Universal’s summer 2025 keynotes and in theory ideal counterprogramming to the onslaught of animation and more entrenched brand extensions, including its stablemate JURASSIC PARK REBIRTH. Williams was ubiquitous on the 30 ROCK carwash of promotion and any podcast she could squeeze into her schedule–all those years on GIRLS does build up a lot of street cred. What could go wrong?
Well, plenty, it would seem. As EPICSTREAM’s Michael Baculinao shared in one of the many post-mortem that dropped last week:
Despite the massive success of the first film when it was released in early 2023, M3GAN 2.0 failed to live up to expectations financially, and it only opened with a tepid $10.2 million, far from the first film’s $30 million opening.
Oh, that Tomatometer score? A 57. Pretty much up the middle between 22 and 93, but hardly an endorsement from even Blum’s fan club of critics and tastemakers.
So in light of that Blum put himself out there as a quasi-sacrificial lamb, allowing himself to enter the lion’s den of Matthew Belloni and the RINGER’s now “must-listen” THE TOWN podcast at the outset of a holiday weekend where the opportunity to listen on the beach or in the car is all the more available. Belloni’s publicity machine made a huge deal out of it, praising Blum’s “unusual” candor and willingness to discuss how this potential franchise came to a screeching halt. THE WRAP’s Kayla Cobb was among the many who picked up the publicity ball and ran to daylight with it:
Blum explained that the underperformance of “M3GAN 2.0” came down to three basic factors: changing too much from the original, betting on a summer premiere when the first movie premiered in the fall and fast-tracking the movie. “We all thought M3GAN was like Superman. We could do anything to her. We could change genres. We could put her in the summer. We could make her look different. We could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy,” Blum said. “We kind of classically overthought how powerful people’s engagement was really with her. ” He also pushed the blame on his studio and their timeline rather than the movie’s writer/director, Gerard Johnstone. “Gerard is someone who can solve almost anything you throw at him, but he needs time. He’s just one of those directors that needs a lot of time,” the exec explained.
At the end of the day, “M3GAN 2.0” flopping isn’t entirely a shocking Hollywood story. Sequels to beloved movies flop all the time. What is notable is Blum’s decision to openly talk about Blumhouse’s slump while he’s in the middle of it. “Everyone says, ‘Oh, I learned so much from failure.’ But when they are actually in a situation where things are not going well they sweep it under the rug,” Blum said, adding that his appearance on the podcast came “right in the middle of the pain.”
It seems that Blum’s “candor” and “openness” has tapped into a culture where participation trophies, helicopter parenting and mental health days are the order of the day judging by the degree of praise that’s being lavished upon this come-uppance:
Blum’s episode has been well-regarded by industry insiders. The Blacklist founder Franklin Leonard called the interview a “masterclass in leadership,” while fellow filmmaker Joe Russo also called it a “masterclass.”
A masterclass in buck-passing, perhaps. COLLIDER’s Shrishty Mishra provided this telling verbatim:
(H)istorically, sequels are trickiest, given many iconic films have given out subpar follow-ups like Speed 2: Cruise Control, Jaws: The Revenge, Independence Day: Resurgence. Blum reveals M3GAN 2.0 had a similar weight of high expectations: “People wanted more M3GAN just like she is. Every time you do a sequel, you have to ride this very fine line,” he said. “Which is, if you make it too close to the first movie, everyone says, ‘You ripped off the first movie.’ And, ‘Why’d you make this movie? What a waste of time.’ And if you make it too far away from the first movie, everyone says, ‘Why the f*** is this a sequel? This has nothing to do with the first movie and we’re pissed about it.’”
Blum leads an exceptionally comfortable life and can absorb losses like this far better than most. So even if one allows that there’s some degree of self-flaggelation afoot, no one would seem to need to run him a benefit any time soon.
But do note this almost throwaway nugget which Bauclinao slipped in at the very end of his report:
Despite the box office failure of the sequel, a spinoff film titled SOULM8TE is still set to release in theaters in January 2026.
That’s a mere six months away if you’re scoring at home. The same team, headed by Captain Blum, at the time of year where no superhero or velociraptor can get in their way. And yep, the studio that has now seen them whiff significantly with a sequel twice in a row.
For the moment, they’re all full speed ahead despite what now may be argued is an iceberg of rejection in their path. And don’t think Blum’s “masterclass” tour wasn’t orchestrated to some degree to melt as much of its as his gravitas would allow.
But if I’m Donna Langley and company I just might be calling Jason onto their carpet this week to answer a few more questions. Like who exactly is this “we” you kept referencing? What feedback was received along the way that perhaps YOU or your sensitive director were not fully capable of processing? How much of a fight did you put up when we all had visions of a nine figure box office and a M3gassic synergy that seemed to work for Barbenheimer under similar circumstances during that opportunisitic summer in your bipolar year?
Are you happy with the marketing plan and the timing for SOULM8TE, o revered one? Are robot romcoms gonna be a thing? Maybe we should have a bunch of Gemmas and Amelias (the sequel’s newly introduced character whose own rogue turn sparks the introduction of the New Coke equivalent of M3GAN) serving as “chauffeurs” in the autonomous vehicle fleet of your choice?
And what do you plan to do if OUR best-laid intentions come up empty for a third consecutive time this winter? Will you be a shred more willing to allow for the possibility that perhaps Gerard Johnstone isn’t Steven Spielberg as a director and that you might not be his equivalent as a mogul? Will you one-up this performative “masterclass” with still another level of hand-wringing and defensiveness over and above the one that has you being seen as somehow heroic at a time where the industry as a whole is in dire need of some viable fresh ideas with traction–and yet YOUR team hasn’t delivered?
Maybe you think I’m being a bit too harsh. Perhaps you didn’t work in the times I did for the bosses I had. More power to you if you didn’t.
I’m repeatedly told that Blum claims to be a student of research and reveres the likes of Kevin Goetz, who’s got a new book of his own to promote. Maybe they could team up to do some additional work on SOULM8TE and hit the car wash with some teasers on how things will go differently, and how the process of actually asking people what they really think rather than trying to sell them on how you’d hope they think should matter?
It’s a tall task, to be sure. I’m here to help if you ask nicely.
Until next time…