Top horror studio Blumhouse is about to celebrate its 15th anniversary, and to ring in the milestone right, they are bringing the 2022 hit M3GAN back to theaters ahead of the sequel’s release. That said, this limited theatrical engagement includes some new features, so to speak, that encourage the use of smartphones in theaters — so needless to say, it’s pretty controversial.
As part of its Halfway to Halloween initiative, Shudder will screen M3GAN — as well as Ma and Annabelle — for one night only engagements that include the use of Meta’s “Movie Mate” technology, which allows audience members to interact with M3GAN herself through a chatbot, as well as second screen capabilities that will showcase exclusive content in real-time.
“Movie Mate is only available to moviegoers who are in a theater, and works by DM’ing the Instagram account @M3GAN account to start the experience,” the studio explained in a report published by Variety.
“The entire experience is designed to leverage Meta’s capabilities to augment and uplevel the ‘second screen’ viewing experience aimed at generating excitement ahead of the release of M3GAN 2.0 on June 27.”
It also noted that fans can expect “sneak peeks, exclusive recorded messages from directors and talent from the films, and surprise special appearances in select markets.” All in all, this sounds like a blow aimed to kill, directly attempting to strike the already weakened core of the theatrical experience and it doesn’t bring any joy to report on it — but only time will tell exactly how fans react to the experience once they, well, experience it. One thing is for sure: I hope it doesn’t spread to regular screenings any time soon.
The M3GAN screening will take place in various theaters nationwide on April 30, with Annabelle screening on May 7 and Ma screening on May 14. M3GAN 2.0 hits theaters in the United States on June 27.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
