Soulm8te originally had an early January 2026 release date, but less than a month beforehand, Universal pulled the plug on the film as Blumhouse searched for a new distributor.
The sci-fi thriller’s chances of finally being released have now gone up after the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which assigns film ratings in the United States, gave Soulm8te an R rating for “strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity and language.”
This marks a major departure for the franchise, as both M3GAN films earned PG-13 ratings for violent content and strong language, among other reasons.
M3GAN made a huge splash at the box office when it was released in 2022. While it debuted in second place on opening weekend with $30.4 million (due to Avatar: The Way of Water‘s continued success), it ended up grossing $180 million at the global box office, with a reported budget of only $12 million.
Described as a modern-day Chucky, M3GAN was a critically acclaimed film, earning a Certified Fresh score of 93% from critics and 78% from audiences. The film went on to be nominated for Best Science Fiction Film and Best Performance by a Young Actor at the Saturn Awards.
Allison Williams starred in M3GAN as a roboticist named Gemma, who creates an AI-powered doll that she gives to her niece after her parents’ deaths. The doll, named M3GAN, begins making decisions on her own and targets people who could potentially be a threat to the girl. Williams’ co-stars include Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald and Brian Jordan Alvarez.
After the success of the first film, Universal and Blumhouse greenlit a sequel, but M3GAN 2.0 failed to capture the magic a second time, grossing only $39 million at the box office in 2025 and receiving a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score; audiences were more receptive with an 81% score, though.
Before M3GAN 2.0‘s release, Universal was already developing a spinoff film called Soulm8te, which has a similar premise as M3GAN but, instead of a child receiving a doll, a widower deals with his grief by purchasing an android.
Filming took place in 2024, with Kate Dolan as director and co-screenwriter with Rafael Jordan. The stars of the movie are Lily Sullivan, Claudia Doumit, David Rysdahl, Steve Chusak, Oliver Cooper, Emma Ramos and Ossian Perret.
Now that Soulm8te has been given an R rating by the MPA, it’s possible Blumhouse will announce a new distributor and release date soon, but no official announcements have been made yet, and it’s unclear what the current status of the film is beyond the rating update.