M3GAN is a horror/sci-fi film about a life-like doll designed to be a child's best friend. When Gemma, the creator of M3GAN, gives a M3GAN prototype to her 8-year-old niece, it leads to unimaginable consequences. The film was released on January 6, 2023, and has grossed almost $53 million in the worldwide box office.
While the movie has done great so far, the making of the film wasn't particularly easy. With a life-like doll as the main focus, the crew certainly had their work cut out for them. Here's everything on how the team brought M3GAN to life.
8 The Idea For The Movie Was Created On A Whim
The idea for M3GAN was actually created on a whim when producer James Wan collaborated with colleagues at his Atomic Monster Productions company. He said, "One of the things we like to do at Atomic Monster is, at the end of the week, sit around and chat about films. At one of these sessions, we came up with the idea of doing a killer-doll movie."
Wan has also been a part of other horror movies, including Insidious and The Conjuring films.
7 Directing A Robot Was Hard For Gerard Johnstone
Gerard Johnstone, director of M3GAN, said that the making of the film was difficult given the additional tools needed to make it happen. He explained, "It was really challenging. They talk about working with children and animals, and we did all of that plus, you know, animatronic puppets and god knows what else. So, it was quite grueling, but ultimately those really tricky films produce good results. It was a testament to the work that everyone had done that M3GAN is just such a strong presence onscreen."
6 Several Actresses Also Helped Bring Her To Life
M3GAN was brought to life with the help of a few actresses. In an interview with Indie Wire, Johnstone said, “There are only two or three shots in the movie in which M3GAN is entirely CG."
He went on to explain, “The methodology was essentially to use an animatronic puppet when she’s still, and as soon as she starts moving she’s a girl in a mask. The CG is there to give her face some articulation, because she’s wearing a mask and the mask is not animatronic. She basically just has her mouth open the whole time.”
The young actress to take on this challenge became Amie Donald, who physically portrayed M3GAN throughout the film. M3GAN's voice was delivered by actress and singer Jenna Davis, because they wanted M3GAN to "feel like a bigger sister rather than a friend."
5 Amie Donald Was Essential To The Making Of M3GAN
Amie Donald is an incredibly talented actress that really made M3GAN so believable. Johnstone said, "She was a real miracle find...She just brought so much to it, and she just blew everyone away."
Johnstone explained how incredible Donald's physicality was, enabling her to be shown in a wide variety of scenes. “She could run really fast on all fours. She could run sideways on all fours really fast. And she was the loveliest, shyest little thing until the cameras were rolling. Then she became M3GAN. In fact, she wanted to be called M3GAN anytime she was on set.”
4 All That Said, The Real-Life Doll Can Still Do A Lot
M3GAN might be even scarier when you realize what the real-life doll can do. Johnstone and animatronic character designer Adrien Morot revealed that M3GAN, the animatronic doll, can actually do quite a lot on its own. She has tiny robotic gears which enable her skin to "move", just like human muscles would pull skin. Every mug that M3GAN pulls in the movie was real.
Morot also explained how they used half a dozen puppets to bring the killer toy to life, saying, “We had six or seven different puppets that were capable of doing different things. We had some of the head moving, eyes moving, the moving torso, and there were a couple that were capable of a full computerized range of movements."
3 A Lot Of Thought Went Into How M3GAN Looked
When creation first began, the team put a lot of thought into how M3GAN looked, because she was meant to resemble a young girl, while still not looking realistic enough to be seen as one.
Wan explained this balance, saying, "We actually went back and forth a fair bit. Gerard was pretty instrumental early on about wanting to make M3GAN as realistic as possible...I think that uncanny valley quality about it is what makes it really, really creepy."
Morot explained that the team, "dialed down everything," and there was a particular focus given to M3GAN's eyes. Her sharp head turns were also done by a puppeteer, who sat beneath the doll and steered her head, since the puppets themselves didn't have any legs.
The team also wanted to ensure that she was different from other killer dolls. Johnstone said, “I wanted her to be iconic, first and foremost."
2 M3GAN's Dance Became Viral
It was Johnstone who came up with the idea that M3GAN should dance, though the viral dance scene in M3GAN wasn't actually in the original script. He said, "It was one of those crazy, sleep-deprived, 3 a.m. thoughts. Wouldn't it kind of be funny if the soundtrack suddenly became real and M3GAN ended up busting a move to whatever music was playing. It was just something that everyone embraced and loved."
After the trailer for the movie came out, the scene went viral on social media. This is all credit to Donald, who was able to use her dancing skills (and a prosthetic face) to bring this scene to life, aided by directing tools like puppetry, animatronics, and visual effects. Williams explained that, "When she was performing M3GAN, she was wearing this mask with these tiny holes in it so that she could see out of it, so it would make it easier for CGI to recreate her face."
1 Creating M3GAN Brought The Team Together
At the end of the day, creating M3GAN posed challenges for the team, but it brought them closer together. Williams said, "It kind of brought us all together, because it required the collaboration of the full crew. Basically, every department, I feel, was involved. It was certainly a unique performative experience for me, playing scenes with M3GAN. I don't know that I'll ever have that experience again."
Wan and Blum have both said that they would be happy to make a sequel to M3GAN. Johnstone agreed, but said it might be a while before he's ready to tackle that project.
