Film fans fuming as ‘near perfect’ film’s spin-off pulled from release | Films | Entertainment

A highly anticipated spin-off from a film hailed as “ingenious” and “nearly perfect” has been abruptly withdrawn from its scheduled release, sending shockwaves through the sci-fi and horror community.

After the triumph of 2022’s M3GAN, which followed a homicidal robot doll’s twisted mission to safeguard a young girl, a companion film set within the same world was unveiled.

Helmed by Kate Dolan, SOULM8TE is described as an erotic thriller centring on a widower who turns to an AI robot to process his grief. Yet his attempts to engineer a completely sentient companion spiral into catastrophe, reports the Mirror.

Producer James Wan had previously described the project as “like Fatal Attraction but with robots,” noting: “SOULM8TE is basically set in the same AI world [as M3GAN] but seen through a more grown-up perspective, one that embraces all the great erotic thrillers from the nineties.”

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The thriller features talent including Evil Dead Rise’s Lily Sullivan, Alien: Earth’s David Rysdahl and The Boys’ Claudia Doumit. Yet Deadline reports Universal has now cancelled the film’s January premiere and is actively shopping the film, with no revised launch date confirmed.

Supporters were swift to voice their opinions on the announcement, with numerous viewers insisting the studio should “just release it”.

One enthusiast of the M3GAN franchise remarked: “Wait but noo this concept sounds so fun,” whilst another chimed in: “No! Why’s everyone hating? You never let it have a chance.”

A third passionate viewer pleaded: “Just release to streaming, man I need SOULM8TE to complete my M3GAN collection.”

The official follow-up to M3GAN, bearing the title M3GAN 2.0, arrived in cinemas earlier this year but struggled to replicate the commercial triumph of the original.

Whilst the inaugural instalment generated a remarkable £80million profit, its successor fell considerably short despite benefiting from an increased production budget.

The original film continues to hold a special place amongst horror and science fiction enthusiasts, garnering an outstanding 93 per cent rating from critics alongside a respectable 78 per cent audience approval rating.

One critic observed: “M3GAN is an excellent film, a well-executed horror comedy that masterfully conveys its message: technology is harming us.”

Another wrote: “This movie was so MUCH FUN I loved every minute of it,” whilst a third contributor noted: “This was a nice concept – very much in the Child’s Play vein with a new digital spin as we move into quite frankly terrifying times.”

They elaborated: “There’s a message – as there invariably is now – about human reliance on technology, the dumbing down of social skills and priorities but underneath it is an effective horror villain in Megan.”