‘M3gan’ beats the Box Office’s predictions and sails into second place

Hollywood has a new scream queen.

“M3gan,” a campy PG-13 horror movie starring a vicious robot (insert snotty hair flip here), sold an estimated $30.2 million in tickets this weekend in the United States and Canada, or about 30 percent more than box office analysts had predicted. Universal Pictures, which released the $12 million horror comedy, has already released a sequel at an accelerated pace.

Reviews were 94 percent positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes. That level of critical response alone made “M3gan” a triumph: When it comes to worn-out movie concepts, the killer pop is right up there with “mediocre guy attracts supermodel.” Coming up with a fresh view is almost impossible. (Chucky is 35 years old and has been the focus of eight movies and a TV series. The demonic Annabelle has headlined three movies since 2014.)

Horror films continue to thrive in theaters — unlike sophisticated dramas, which have struggled — because they’re fun to experience in the dark with strangers. “Young moviegoers want to see them on the big screen with their friends for the maximum thrill,” says David A. Gross, a movie consultant who publishes a box office newsletter. According to Universal, about 44 percent of the audience for “M3gan” was under the age of 24.

“M3gan” is also notable for depicting the way comedy has evolved as a theatrical offering. Traditional comedies struggle to sell tickets. But comedy has become a bigger part of other types of movies, with Marvel superhero goggles being the obvious example. In some ways, “M3gan” is a comedy masquerading as a horror movie; the four-foot-tall robot puppet humorously bursts into song, performs weird dance moves, and wryly casts shadows—when she’s not killing.

Director-writer-producer James Wan, known for “The Conjuring”, “Aquaman” and “Saw” franchises, came up with the idea for “M3gan”, which stands for Model 3 Generative Android. (It’s pronounced Megan.) Warner Bros. succeeded, in part because it already has Annabelle, prompting Wan to pitch the idea to mega-producer Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse Productions is affiliated with Universal. Gerard Johnstone, a relative newcomer, directed “M3gan” from a screenplay by Akela Cooper (of “Luke Cage” and “Malignant” fame).

Universal supported “M3gan” with an inventive marketing campaign. TikTok played a prominent role in the studio’s efforts, as did Twitter, where an account supposedly controlled by M3gan began sparring with one controlled by Chucky.

Hollywood hopes 2023 will mark a return to the box office after three pandemic-ravaged years. Movie theaters in North America sold about $7.5 billion worth of tickets last year, down 34 percent from 2019, according to EntTelligence, a research firm. That total equated to about 626 million tickets. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Hollywood sold about 1.2 billion tickets annually in the United States and Canada.

According to Gower Street Analytics, global ticket sales for 2022 were about $26 billion, down about 35 percent from 2019.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Disney), directed by James Cameron, bodes well for a box office recovery, having a slower-than-expected start and overcoming a series of severe winter storms in the United States and Canada to earn an estimated $1 .7 billion worldwide. The extremely expensive “Way of Water” should cross the $2 billion mark, analysts say, making it one of the top five best-selling movies of all time and justifying Disney’s plans for three more “Avatar” installments.

Over the weekend, “The Way of Water” grossed about $45 million in domestic theaters, easily enough for the top spot. “M3gan” came in second, followed by the animated “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (Universal), which had $13.1 million in ticket sales, for a three-week domestic total of $88 million ($130.8 worldwide ).

However, dramas continue to struggle.

Damien Chazelle’s star-studded “Babylon” (Paramount), an extreme take on the hedonism of early Hollywood, failed to gain traction in its third weekend in theaters, selling just $1.5 million in tickets, for a new total of $13.5 million. It cost nearly $80 million to make, not counting marketing.