Producer James Wan Already Has Ideas About A Potential M3GAN Sequel

Filmmaker James Wan is responsible for creating some of the creepiest movies in modern memory, and it all began when Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) started playing his sick little games in 2004's "Saw." The filmmaker has served as writer, director, and producer on some of the most significant horror films of the 2000s, including "The Conjuring" and "Insidious." Wan's latest venture is the science fiction/horror movie "M3GAN," and while he primarily serves in a producing capacity behind the camera, he also developed the story for screenwriter Akela Cooper to flesh out.

At first glance, the character of M3GAN might remind horror enthusiasts of Wes Craven's robotic villain Samantha Pringle (Kristy Swanson) in 1986's "Deadly Friend," but Wan came up with the idea for "M3GAN" while spitballing ideas with his team at Atomic Monster Productions. "We were hanging [out] like we always do at the end of the week," Wan said during an interview with The Movie Times (via YouTube). "We like to just drink and chat about stuff, and we started talking about movies that we would like to see."

"Our conversation, in one way or another, will end up talking about a 'killer doll' movie," Wan continued. "And really the seed of 'M3GAN' really did come from that conversation." During the same interview, Wan summed up the concept of "M3GAN" as "Annabelle" meets "The Terminator." Certainly, the teams at both Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions have high hopes for the new film — in fact, Wan has already brainstormed ideas for a "M3GAN" sequel. 

Of course, the fate of a "M3GAN" sequel rests on the film's ability to make a profit. However, that doesn't mean that producer James Wan hasn't thought about the future of the terrifyingly devoted robot companion brought to life by Amie Donald (on-screen) and Jenna Davis (voice). 

"In any of my movies ... we like to think of a bigger world," Wan said in an interview with Collider. "For me, it's about creating the world, and knowing who the characters are, where the story could potentially go, and then building this bigger world ... So, if we're fortunate enough to have sequels, then we have an idea of where we want to go."

"M3GAN" director Gerard Johnstone made the first move to try and reach a bigger audience by slashing the movie's more horrific elements from the final cut. According to an interview with Total Film, Johnstone chose to go back and reshoot some of the gorier sequences to remove some of the bloodier effects. However, Johnstone insists that the "M3GAN" was already "close" to a PG-13 rating in its earlier form, and the new cut turned out to be "more effective" due to the unseen horror being left to the imagination.