The terrible toy instantly became a Twitter phenomenon. Photo: Handout
She's an icon, she's a legend and she is the moment.
When the first trailer for M3GAN (now in theatres) was released in October, the terrible toy instantly became a Twitter phenomenon, thanks to her deadly dance moves, glam getup and sweetly sadistic one-liners.
Now, combined with stellar reviews, M3GAN went far analysts' expectations to take in a strong US$30.2mil (RM132.14mil) in its first weekend,
So what makes the viral marketing of M3GAN so genius? Simply put, it "doesn't take itself too seriously," says Mia Mercado, a contributor to the Cut. "If anything, that made me want to see the movie more."
Twitter loves M3GAN memes – and the movie, too
M3GAN follows a young girl (Violet McGraw) whose aunt (Allison Williams) builds her a robot companion after her parents are killed in a car accident. As you can guess, the overprotective android soon takes on a mind of her own and racks up a shockingly high body count.
Because of the movie's theatrical release in the no man's land of January, many people expected M3GAN to be a dud. But the savvy comedy thriller has a surprisingly strong 95% positive rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes – better than some Oscar contenders such as Elvis (77%) and The Whale (66%).
Naturally, horror movie fans are thrilled that M3GAN delivers on sky-high expectations.
Me leaving this #M3GAN screening rn: pic.twitter.com/INxDYec0xr
— Jared Alexander (@heyyitsjared) January 5, 2023
Me after watching #M3GAN (it’s so good yall) pic.twitter.com/5lc0Qpb5cQ
— Lasagna Taylor Joy (@Ryan_Balthazor) January 6, 2023
M3GAN does viral dance to Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion
One of the trailer's most meme-able moments is of M3GAN dancing in a hallway before she goes in for the kill: swaying side to side and flailing her arms, before springing into a hands-free cartwheel.
Her TikTok-worthy steps have inspired countless fan edits, using songs by everyone from RuPaul to Charli XCX.
"you can't dance to taylor swift"
m3gan: ok then explain this pic.twitter.com/hHJtCadTJl
— liz (@iwishyouwoulds) October 11, 2022
Every day Beyonce doesn’t release visuals I’m entitled to punishing the TL with my own pic.twitter.com/UBt9mkOLoV
— Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) October 11, 2022
Annabelle, Chucky can't compete with M3GAN
Many of the best M3GAN memes are about how she's effectively usurped Annabelle and Chucky as the reigning creepy doll in horror. Even rapper Megan Thee Stallion got in on the joke, tweeting that Annabelle is "over".
annabelle after m3gan’s debut pic.twitter.com/8PquybOlZD
— tyde (@ghostfacegay) October 12, 2022
Renesmee paved the way for M3GAN
Speaking of disturbing dolls – remember Renesmee from Twilight? The daughter of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) was initially portrayed by an unsettling animatronic puppet in Breaking Dawn – Part 1, before she was scrapped for a digitally animated baby.
But the evidence lives online, and she bears a striking resemblance to M3GAN herself.
As Nicole Kidman might say, "We come to this place for M3GAN." – USA Today/Tribune News Service
remember her? this is her now! #M3GAN pic.twitter.com/qxegL898Zu
— best of twilight (@archivetwilight) October 11, 2022
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