Just a month before its anticipated premiere, with no marketing materials in sight, Soulm8te was abruptly scrubbed from the release calendar for January 8th, 2026. Universal's decision to withdraw the M3GAN spinoff from circulation signals a shift in strategy, indicating that the film will now be shopped around to other studios. This development follows the disappointing box office performance of Blumhouse's M3GAN 2.0 this summer, which strayed from the horror genre that made the first installment a social media sensation in January 2023. "We all thought Megan was like Superman. We could do anything to her. We could change genres. We could put her in the summer. We could make her look different. We could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy. And we classically overestimated how powerful people's engagement was with her," Blumhouse founder Jason Blum admitted during a post-release interview on The Town.
M3GAN 2.0 managed to gross $39.1 million globally, a far cry from the $180 million earned by the original film. Although little is publicly known about Soulm8te, a trailer released during CinemaCon in April showcased Lily Sullivan as an AI-powered companion hired by a grieving man (David Rysdahl). Kate Dolan directed the movie and penned the script, with a story credited to James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Rafael Jordan. In the CinemaCon footage, Sullivan can be heard saying, "Tell me you love me," with a hint of vulnerability. "Nobody will ever know you like I do," she adds, her tone shifting to confidence. Later, she asks, "Have I been a bad girl?" And when facing off with a female rival, she quips, "Don't try that girl-power shit with me," her tone filled with both playfulness and menace.
