MOVIE NEWS – Familiar setup, yes, but Gerard Johnstone says there’s no copycatting going on

Two years ago, M3GAN became a breakout hit, featuring an AI-powered doll who went on a murderous rampage after gaining sentience. In the upcoming sequel, the killer doll returns—but this time as a protector, forced to defend her human owner from a far deadlier combat robot. Fans immediately pointed out the obvious similarity to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s once-lethal T-800 returns as the good guy, protecting John Connor from the more advanced T-1000, played by Robert Patrick.

M3GAN 2.0 director Gerard Johnstone acknowledges the parallels, but insists this isn’t a carbon copy. “M3GAN was already a kind of Terminator pastiche, so it didn’t feel like sacrilege to continue along those lines,” he told CinemaBlend. “That narrative formula still works—our deadly little doll suddenly finds herself up against an even more dangerous adversary.”

Johnstone assures audiences that M3GAN 2.0 will offer plenty of plot twists and unexpected turns to ensure no one mistakes it for a watered-down T2 clone—especially since, unlike James Cameron’s action-driven epic, this sequel leans heavily into horror and absurd dark comedy.

M3GAN 2.0 is set to release in Hungary on June 26, 2025.

Source: UIP Dunafilm