Filmmaker Gerard Johnstone talks 'M3GAN 2.0' and addresses rumours of 'copying' 'Terminator' – says "comparisons started after the script"
Creator of the hit movie ‘M3GAN’ and its upcoming sequel ‘ M3GAN 2.0 ’, Gerard Johnstone recently opened up about the films as well as the potential they hold in the current industry. The director talked about how his film has the “power to stay”.
Johnstone opens up about upcoming ‘M3GAN 2.0’
Johnstone made his smashing studio debut with ‘M3GAN’ in 2023, which managed to garner 182 million dollars at the box office, while the cost of creation was only 12 million dollars. The film was dropped at a time when AI integration in our daily lives was becoming more and more popular.
Now, questions about how trustworthy AI is or if we can truly operate on the technology, etc., are all being addressed in his upcoming project. The director, while talking about the film with The Hollywood Reporter, shared that as humans, we do have an obligation over how we use this ever-developing tech. He stated in the interview that “If [AI] does bad things, is that really because the thing itself is bad? Or is it just because of the way we’ve trained it?”
While addressing the success of the franchise and the possibility of future films, the director and screenwriter commented that “Yeah, but I would not be surprised if there are another five of these movies. So, who knows, maybe I’ll come back for the fifth one.”
Director addresses rumours of ‘copying’ ‘ Terminator ’ plot
As soon as the main plot of the new film was revealed, many people online started making the comparisons between ‘M3GAN 2.0’ and ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, which the director was not surprised by. Gerard shared while talking about the ‘copying’ rumours that “It’s really funny because the comparisons started after the script was written. I thought, ‘Yeah, I guess [James] Cameron did it first — like everything else,’ but I was really just focused on a redemption arc for M3GAN. I will also say that T2 would be more similar [to M3GAN 2.0] if it was a redemption story for [Arnold Schwarzenegger’s] first Terminator from The Terminator. Terminator 2 has a completely different robot.”
He continued with his answer, saying that “I will also say that T2 would be more similar [to M3GAN 2.0] if it was a redemption story for [Arnold Schwarzenegger’s] first Terminator from The Terminator. That’s the key difference. Terminator 2 has a completely different robot. He has to learn certain things, but he’s been programmed to protect from the get-go. M3GAN 2.0 is about a machine that we think of as malevolent, but then we do a deeper dive.”
About ‘M3GAN 2.0’
The upcoming film follows a redemption plot for M3GAN, who in the previous film had murdered 4 people and a dog under the guise of ‘protecting Cady ’. In the new film, after the initial plans of creating the android bot were thought to be destroyed, a defence contractor somehow gets his hands on a copy, creating the killing machine AMELIA. Unpredictable as ever, however, the new android bot goes rogue and kills anyone who was associated with making it.
Cady and her aunt are next on the list, and in order to save themselves, as well as mankind, they recreate M3GAN with certain upgrades in order to defeat the new AI evil.
The director also delved into certain details of the film that can be observed in the trailer, especially the part where one of M3GAN’s upgrades is making her taller. The director shared during the interview that the change was made in order to accommodate the actual actress’s height change as well. He stated that “Amie is such an integral part of the creation and execution of M3GAN, and it just felt right [to accommodate her new height]. The other side of it was that Violet is also growing, and if M3GAN is somewhere between a best friend and a parent to Cady, it doesn’t make sense for her to be shorter than Cady.”
Johnstone opens up about upcoming ‘M3GAN 2.0’
Johnstone made his smashing studio debut with ‘M3GAN’ in 2023, which managed to garner 182 million dollars at the box office, while the cost of creation was only 12 million dollars. The film was dropped at a time when AI integration in our daily lives was becoming more and more popular.
Now, questions about how trustworthy AI is or if we can truly operate on the technology, etc., are all being addressed in his upcoming project. The director, while talking about the film with The Hollywood Reporter, shared that as humans, we do have an obligation over how we use this ever-developing tech. He stated in the interview that “If [AI] does bad things, is that really because the thing itself is bad? Or is it just because of the way we’ve trained it?”
While addressing the success of the franchise and the possibility of future films, the director and screenwriter commented that “Yeah, but I would not be surprised if there are another five of these movies. So, who knows, maybe I’ll come back for the fifth one.”
Director addresses rumours of ‘copying’ ‘ Terminator ’ plot
As soon as the main plot of the new film was revealed, many people online started making the comparisons between ‘M3GAN 2.0’ and ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, which the director was not surprised by. Gerard shared while talking about the ‘copying’ rumours that “It’s really funny because the comparisons started after the script was written. I thought, ‘Yeah, I guess [James] Cameron did it first — like everything else,’ but I was really just focused on a redemption arc for M3GAN. I will also say that T2 would be more similar [to M3GAN 2.0] if it was a redemption story for [Arnold Schwarzenegger’s] first Terminator from The Terminator. Terminator 2 has a completely different robot.”
He continued with his answer, saying that “I will also say that T2 would be more similar [to M3GAN 2.0] if it was a redemption story for [Arnold Schwarzenegger’s] first Terminator from The Terminator. That’s the key difference. Terminator 2 has a completely different robot. He has to learn certain things, but he’s been programmed to protect from the get-go. M3GAN 2.0 is about a machine that we think of as malevolent, but then we do a deeper dive.”
About ‘M3GAN 2.0’
The upcoming film follows a redemption plot for M3GAN, who in the previous film had murdered 4 people and a dog under the guise of ‘protecting Cady ’. In the new film, after the initial plans of creating the android bot were thought to be destroyed, a defence contractor somehow gets his hands on a copy, creating the killing machine AMELIA. Unpredictable as ever, however, the new android bot goes rogue and kills anyone who was associated with making it.
Cady and her aunt are next on the list, and in order to save themselves, as well as mankind, they recreate M3GAN with certain upgrades in order to defeat the new AI evil.
The director also delved into certain details of the film that can be observed in the trailer, especially the part where one of M3GAN’s upgrades is making her taller. The director shared during the interview that the change was made in order to accommodate the actual actress’s height change as well. He stated that “Amie is such an integral part of the creation and execution of M3GAN, and it just felt right [to accommodate her new height]. The other side of it was that Violet is also growing, and if M3GAN is somewhere between a best friend and a parent to Cady, it doesn’t make sense for her to be shorter than Cady.”
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