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SOULM8TE: M3GAN spinoff finds its lead

M3GAN stands still while wearing a brown overcoat in the film "M3GAN."
Geoffrey Short/Universal Pictures / Universal

SOULM8TE, a new film in the M3GAN universe, has found its star.

Per Deadline, Lily Sullivan has landed the lead role in SOULM8TE. Sullivan will play the artificially intelligent android a man buys to cope with his wife’s death. The beautiful robot is supposed to become the man’s new partner. However, the man turns his AI android from a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate. SOULM8TE is being described as a 1990s erotic thriller with a technological twist.

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Sullivan is an Australian actress who rose to prominence with American audiences as Beth Bixler in Evil Dead Rise. The 29-year-old’s credits include Monolith, I Met a Girl, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Announced in June, SOULM8TE is the first spinoff to M3GAN from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. Kate Dolan, best known for helming You Are Not My Motherwill direct SOULM8TE. Dolan rewrote the original draft by Rafael Jordan, which is based on a story by Jordan, James Wan, and Ingrid Bisu.

Lily Sullivan Lands Lead In 'M3GAN' Spin-Off 'SOULM8TE' https://t.co/qOSf9QetXI

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 9, 2024

Wan and Jason Blum are listed as producers on SOULM8TE, with Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Ingrid Bisu, and Alayna Glasthal serving as executive producers.

In January 2023, audiences were first introduced to an AI killer robot in M3GAN. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, M3GAN danced its way to a worldwide box office gross of $181 million on a budget of $12 million. M3GAN’s overwhelming success and positive reviews led to the announcement of M3GAN 2.0. M3GAN’s stars Allison Williams and Violet McGraw will reprise their roles for the sequel. M3GAN 2.0 is scheduled for a theatrical release on June 27, 2025.

SOULM8TE hits theaters on January 2, 2026.

Dan Girolamo
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