The M3GAN franchise just hit a new low. And this time, the movie didn’t even make it to cinemas.
What Is Soulm8te?
Soulm8te is a new horror movie from Blumhouse. It spins off from the hit 2022 film M3GAN. But instead of a killer robot babysitter, this movie gives us something different — a killer robot wife.
Here’s the story. A sad man named Neil loses his wife. He can’t move on. So he gets a robot built to look and act like her. At first, she seems perfect. But then things go very, very wrong. The robot turns deadly. Classic Blumhouse.
The movie carries an R-rating. That makes it the first film in the whole M3GAN franchise to get one. It’s bloodier and more graphic than the two movies before it.
Why Did It Skip Theaters?
Blame M3GAN 2.0.
The 2025 sequel made just $39.1 million at the box office. Its budget sat between $15 and $25 million. That sounds okay — but Hollywood expected much more. Critics also tore it apart. They said it lost all the fun and freshness of the first movie.
After that flop, Universal Pictures pulled Soulm8te from its theater release date in December 2025. The studio shopped it around. Nobody picked it up for a big release. So on August 1, 2026, it landed straight on video-on-demand — no theaters, no big launch, no fanfare.
The Scores Tell the Story
Right now, Soulm8te sits at just 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. That makes it the lowest-rated movie in the whole M3GAN franchise. Here’s how the three films stack up:
- M3GAN (2022): 93% — a massive hit
- M3GAN 2.0 (2025): 57% — a big step down
- Soulm8te (2026): 55% — a new low
Critics say the movie starts well. Lily Sullivan’s robot performance grabs attention. David Rysdahl does solid work as the grieving husband. But the final act disappoints. Critics say the R-rating promises more than the film delivers.
Is the Franchise Dead?
Producer Jason Blum admits the team got too confident after the first M3GAN’s big success. He said they thought they could do anything with the character. They were wrong.
But Blum still holds hope. He told Variety: he plans to bring M3GAN back someday. For now though, the franchise looks to be on life support.
Soulm8te is available to rent or buy on demand right now.
