Akela Cooper, who wrote “M3GAN” with James Wan, hopes that the film’s success proves that horror movies don’t have to be “elevated” to succeed.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
James Wan and Jason Blum have already hinted that more “M3GAN” sequels are in the works, but the wait to see more of the dancing, murderous AI doll might be even shorter than fans expect. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, screenwriter Akela Cooper (who wrote the film with her “Malignant” collaborator James Wan), teased that an unrated cut of the film with an even higher body count could be coming soon.
“There should be an unrated version at some point,” Cooper said. “I heard it is on the books. But yes, it was way gorier. Her body count in the script was higher than in the movie. It wasn’t a Gabriel [in ‘Malignant’]-scale massacre, but she did kill a bunch more people, including a couple of characters whom James was like, ‘I like what you did with those people, but I want them to live.’ I was merciless, but again, that is me. My humor is extremely dark.”
Cooper also expressed optimism that the success of “M3GAN” could pave the way for more unapologetically fun horror movies to break out, after years of “elevated horror” dominating the genre.
“It is exciting because for so long everyone was doing ‘elevated horror.’ Even going out and pitching, I would have people say, ‘We like it, but it’s too gory. It’s not elevated,’” she said. “An exec who read one of my specs and really liked it said, ‘It’s gory and no one’s doing gore right now. We have to wait for a horror movie that has gore to come out and be a hit, and then the market will shift.’ I was sitting there, like, ‘OK… we could lead that charge.’ Now I’m [hearing], ‘There’s gore, and it’s not a problem.’ I’m happy that I could have a hand in bringing back fun horror that doesn’t take itself so seriously. I’m reading about more horror movies that are wild, out-there ideas coming out or being bought. And some of them are original, which is good! I’m happy that I could steer that ship so that studio execs can be like, ‘Oh! There might actually be money in them thar hills.’”
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