James Wan and Jason Blum Call ‘M3GAN’ a ‘Cautionary Tale’ of About the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Lately, it seems like an eerily beautiful life-sized doll has been popping up everywhere. On social media and late-night TV, M3GAN has been doing her unmistakable dance, and she’s both fascinating and creepy at the same time. The horror movie about the glassy-eyed android with artificial intelligence is already a big success. Its producers hope audiences will enjoy it–but also think about the lessons the story has regarding artificial intelligence (AI).
‘M3GAN’ is a doll, a friend, and a killer
Polygon reports that the movie is about M3GAN, which is short for Model 3 Generative Android. She’s an AI-enhanced doll tasked with protecting her friend Cady (played by Violet McGraw). Young Cady was recently orphaned when her parents died in a car accident, and she was sent to live with her Aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), who is a roboticist.
M3GAN (Amie Donald) is Gemma’s work project, and she brings the doll home to comfort and protect Cady. What Gemma doesn’t expect is for M3GAN to take her job a little too seriously, with bloody results.
The terrifying doll comes from the minds of screenwriters Akela Cooper and James Wan. Gerard Johnstone directed the movie, and Wan and Jason Blum produced it.
James Wan and Jason Blum think the movie is ‘A cautionary tale’
M3GAN isn’t the first movie to consider how AI could go terribly wrong. However, although the idea is chilling, James Wan and Jason Blum don’t believe that we can prevent it from happening.
“Pumping the brakes is impossible, but I do think M3GAN is a cautionary tale,” Blum said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “You see both sides of AI in the movie and the good and the bad that it can do.”
Wan agrees, saying, “We just need to know where that boundary is, which means we should set boundaries as to where we should and shouldn’t go.”
M3GAN is definitely a doll that has problems with boundaries. The movie comes at a time when the culture is even more fascinated than ever with the potential of AI–as well as nervous about where it might lead regarding visual art, writing programs, and voice manipulation.
Still, Blum and Wan don’t think it’s possible for AI to overtake humans.
“…[I]t still needs to be programmed by humans and given parameters by humans,” Wan insists. “So you’d still need a driver in there to tell the AI how to write the script and what to write and all of that. So in some ways, you still need that human touch.”
The rumors of a ‘M3GAN’ sequel
The opening weekend of M3GAN raked in an impressive $30 million. With that kind of early success, people are already wondering if there might be a sequel someday. In an interview with Variety, Director Gerard Johnstone was enthusiastic about the idea when asked if he was willing to revisit the world of M3GAN.
“How can I not be? Now that the film’s finished and that people that are embracing it,” he said. “There are so many ideas that we had and facets of M3GAN’s personality that we wanted to explore. I totally think there’s more to say. And I know that M3GAN would have more to say.”
For their part, Jason Blum and James Wan believe that horror movies are having a moment, partially because young people want to see them in the theater.
“They want to be able to scream and get scared by a film, and then laugh at the funny bits to break the tension. Horror films really give you that roller-coaster experience, and the theater is really where you get the best experience,” Wan explained.
It seems as though M3GAN might be unstoppable. This may not be good news for the unlucky people around her, but it’s excellent news for horror lovers.
