M3GAN Has Become A Queer Icon, Sequel Happening
The quirky killer doll film "M3GAN" has become a sleeper hit at the box office thanks to a mix of social media memes and viral marketing. After the film overperformed at the box office, a sequel is already in the works, reported Deadline.
If "M3GAN" has already become iconic, a big part of it has to do with her gay following, screenwriter James Wan, who also wrote the film with screenwriter Akela Cooper,told Screen Rant.
"In my previous doll movies — they don't kill anyone," Wan explained about his burgeoning penchant for using creepy dolls in films. "Annabelle never gets up and walks around."
For Wan, "M3GAN" was an opportunity to give horror audiences what they've been waiting for, he said.
"Everyone says I'm the killer doll guy. So I said, I'm going to make a killer doll movie for a brand new generation. Today's kids didn't grow up with Chucky like we did," said Wan.
For the scriptwriting process, Wan says he was drawn to Cooper fro her "old-school horror sensibility" and "predilection for dark humor."
"I wanted to make a movie that really connects and is emotional," Wan told Deadline. " 'M3GAN' plays on a lot of different levels: It's scary, creepy, touching and emotional at the same time."
He added, "We wanted to lean into something more technology-driven as opposed to supernatural."
Despite James Cameron's "Avatar" currently sucking up all the attention at the box office. "M3GAN" has been holding her own, taking in $30.2M, according to Deadline.
About her M3GAN being a queer icon, Cooper said, "I actually asked one of my friends who is a gay man about that, and he was saying this set-up is actually found family, where this little girl has lost her family, and she has to go live with her aunt.
"Then this doll is also brought into the situation," Cooper continued. "That resonates for a lot of people in the gay community, the idea of found family."
M3GAN's killer dance moves and wardrobe only help. See "M3GAN" in theaters now.