Blumhouse’s ‘Soulm8te’ Faces Uncertain Future Amid ‘M3GAN’ Franchise Challenges
The hits keep coming at Blumhouse, and we don’t mean hit movies. No, instead, it seems the woes the house of horrors faced in 2025 are following it into next year. Their next scheduled release, an installment in the M3GAN franchise, is being dropped, which raises a lot of questions.
In an exclusive report, Deadline claims that Soulm8te, a film co-produced by James Wan and his Atomic Monster outfit, will not hit theaters in early January as planned. Moreover, it may not see a theatrical release at all.
Originally slated for January 9th, distributor Universal Pictures pulled the thriller and is letting a genre entry produced by ex-DC Films President Walter Hamada and Paramount called Primate have the post-New Year’s spotlight all to itself.
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The report would have you believe that two studios do not want competing horror movies released simultaneously. That doesn’t make much sense, and it is more likely that Universal lost faith in Soulm8te due to M3GAN 2.0‘s lackluster box office performance. The former’s quality may also be a factor.
M3GAN was an unexpected hit, and as a mid-budget technological horror flick, it saw a greater return on its investment. The film grossed $181.8 million worldwide in 2023, while its sequel petered out upon opening with a paltry $39.1 million to show for itself.
Soulm8te was directed by Kate Dolan, who is best known for the 2021 film You Are Not My Mother. Rafael Jordan and Dolan wrote it based on a story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Jordan.
The plot concerns a widower whose relationship with an artificially intelligent robot, which started as therapeutic, turns deadly. If that premise rings any bells, you are either a Wes Craven fanatic or you remember a straight-to-streaming movie with Megan Fox from a few years ago.
Soulm8te‘s ultimate fate has not been decided. It’s being shopped around and could receive a second chance eventually.
NEXT: ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Review — Is It Summer’s Salvation Or Its Judgment Day?
