The latest horror film to star a scary doll, M3GAN, took the internet by storm with a consistent presence and marketing push leading up to its premiere on January 6. While a big marketing campaign doesn't guarantee a turnout at the theaters, M3GAN has proved that audiences are still obsessed with killer dolls as the film made an absolute killing at the global box office this weekend. The film has reached a global total of $45 million with the film pulling in an impressive $30.2 million at the domestic box office and $14.8 million internationally, in its first weekend.
The film was shown in 3,509 theaters across North America and actually started the weekend off by beating Avatar: The Way of Water at the Friday Box Office by bringing in $11.7 million at the start of the three-day weekend period, with Avatar picking up $11.4 million at the start of its fourth weekend. While the James Cameron blockbuster has retained the top spot for the weekend, M3GAN has taken a solid second place, displacing DreamWork's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish from the spot that it held for its first two weekends pushing the animated feature to third.
This is a fantastic showing for the horror film which was projected to open with an estimated $17 million-$20 million in North America and is even better when considering the film was made on a $12 million budget. The film's viral media campaign which included being able to have a DM conversation with the doll on Twitter, definitely put it in front of many eyes as possible, but the film seems to be garnering major success from strong reviews and word of mouth.
The Strong Reviews For M3GAN
M3GAN currently holds an extremely high Rotten Tomatoes score with the film being certified fresh at 94% after 161 reviews. Collider's own Alyse Wax gave the film an A-, praising the film and saying that it has set a high bar for films to clear in 2023. "M3GAN might just become the Malignant of 2023. It doesn’t have a twist, but it is a weird, bonkers movie. Director Gerard Johnstone knocked it out of the park with his second film. It’s not traditionally scary, but it is existentially scary."
M3GAN is in theaters now. You can watch the film's latest trailer down below.