Film bosses had intense conversations about whether multiple vagina jokes were acceptable in the M3GAN 2.0 sequel, director Gerard Johnstone has confessed.
Two years after the murderous doll, expertly played by Amie Donald, went on a rampage on the big screen, she has returned for a second helping alongside Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps.
In a fresh take on the horror movie sequel, this time there is some doll on doll – or robot on robot – action as she faces off against Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), another creation who is transformed into a military bot.
However, things take a turn when she becomes self-aware and targets her creators, leaving Gemma (Allison) no choice but to upgrade Megan’s software to give them all a fighting chance of survival.
Speaking to Metro ahead of the release on June 27, filmmaker Gerard shed light on the truth behind the character’s sassiness, and whether they ever crossed a ‘really fine line’ in the script.
‘There were conversations about whether or not you can have two vagina jokes in one movie,’ he let slip. ‘But in the end, the fun won out in that one, so we went for it.
‘I was conscious of what the line is going into it. As I’ve been saying to a lot of people, bless them, the marketing campaign of this movie has been huge, but it sort of sometimes portrays the movie as being a little bit more camp than it really is.
‘This really rides a fine line of tension and humor, and as we do this film, we’re very conscious of that, of never overstepping the mark.’
While Gerard and co were worried about overstepping, they made sure that fans of different genres of movies would be delighted with the finished product.
After the trailer for the follow-up premiered, many were concerned that the scary elements that made the first movie so iconic had been swapped with an action-heavy plot.
Despite some differences, the director has promised that the ‘horror DNA’ is still as present – and compared his plans for the creepy doll to another huge movie franchise.
‘For me, it’s an extension of the character,’ he continued. ‘When I was a kid, the Evil Dead movies were a huge influence on me, and I was freaked out by 1, rocked by 2 – but also conscious that it had a sense of humor – and then 3 was just this flat-out adventure with demons in it.
‘To me, that was just such a great reminder that you don’t have to be bound by limitations, as long as you have a great character and you’re true to the origins of your tale. I think that’s what is happening with M3GAN 2.0, really.
‘We’re conscious of the fact that she’s this murder-bot, but if we’re going to have a redemption story for her, then why not move into more of the action realm, and espionage? Certainly, if a technology like Megan exists, it would be used in military robots. It would be an infiltration Android.
‘I just thought, if a technology like Megan existed, this is the most obvious way to use it. Instead of drones, you can send in something that looks like a human and it’s a much more targeted way of carrying out strikes.
‘As soon as I looked at it from a logical point of view, it just made sense that the genre would have to change.’
‘Having said that there are a lot of sequences in the movie that are anchored in a horror DNA,’ he insisted. ‘Especially Megan’s lair, for example. But it’s a different kind of horror. It’s more mood and atmosphere, and it’s undoubtedly more fun.
‘We’ve taken the villain from the first movie and put her center stage. By virtue of doing that, it’s not going to be quite as creepy as the first movie, but it’s a different experience, and one that I still think is a hell of a lot of fun.’
He’s definitely not wrong…
M3GAN 2.0 is in cinemas from June 27.
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