Buckle up, horror fans—the world’s favorite AI doll is back, and she’s bringing a fierce new rival along for the ride. Universal Pictures teams up with drag superstars M1ss Jade So and Janio to bring M3GAN 2.0 to life—literally—by transforming into the upgraded M3GAN and her lethal nemesis, Amelia.

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A.I. Gets an Upgrade—and a Whole Lot More Dangerous

Director Gerard Johnstone, the mastermind behind the 2023 viral horror hit, promises the sequel will be bolder, sharper, and way more terrifying.

“I never want to repeat myself, and telling the same story again with slight variations didn’t feel right for M3gan—especially after the unexpected cultural moment the first film became,” Johnstone says. “When we made the original, it reflected a time when I was deeply concerned about how technology, especially things like iPads and smartphones, was reshaping parenting. But by the time we started thinking about the sequel, Chat GPT had arrived, and the conversation around A.I. had shifted. Suddenly, it was not about whether A.I. would become part of our lives—it already was. That is what inspired the new film: the idea that M3gan is not going anywhere, so what does it mean to live with her? Is she entirely bad, or did her behavior come from how she was raised—how Gemma trained her? And if she had been guided differently, could she have learned the difference between right and wrong? Those are the questions we are exploring now.”

Meet Amelia: The Spy Doll With a Grudge

Step aside, M3GAN—the doll world has a new queen, and she’s playing for keeps. Enter Amelia, a weaponized android built from the same cutting-edge tech as M3GAN—but this time, with military-grade upgrades and an axe to grind.

“In a lot of ways, Amelia is M3gan 2.0—she’s M3gan rebuilt with military hardware, and her sole purpose is revenge,” Johnstone says. “For all of M3gan’s flaws, at least she was designed to protect Gemma’s niece, Cady. But Amelia seems to have been reprogrammed, and once she becomes self-aware and goes rogue, all she has is animosity toward the people who created her, tortured her and treated her like a slave. It raises this fascinating question: if we build robots to serve us, and they become self-aware, how are they going to feel about us?”

A Battle of Dolls… and Wits

Producer James Wan, the horror icon behind The Conjuring and Insidious, believes the film reflects our growing unease with AI’s rapid rise.

“If M3gan represents, at least in this film, the idea of a potentially positive A.I., then Amelia is the dark side of that—something built to do harm, with the potential to be deeply disruptive to humanity,” Wan says. “Sure, the government or whoever created her might believe they can control her. But what happens if she becomes sentient? What happens when she decides, ‘I don’t want to be confined by the code of humanity—I want to be something greater’? That is the real fear with A.I. It keeps learning, and at some point, it may realize the fastest way to evolve is to eliminate the main threat. And that threat is humans.”

The doll that broke the internet is back—and she’s evolved.

The team behind the 2023 pop culture phenomenon reunites for an all-new chapter in AI terror. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, produced by horror heavyweights James Wan, Jason Blum, and Allison Williams, M3GAN 2.0 stars returning favorites Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps, plus exciting new faces like Aristotle Athari (Saturday Night Live), Timm Sharp (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), and Grammy-winning legend Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows).

Prepare for a wild, wicked ride when M3GAN 2.0 hits Philippine cinemas on June 25, 2025.