M3GAN Honest Trailer Targets Viral Dance

Screen Junkie’s M3GAN’s Honest Trailer takes aim at the popular doll slasher horror-thriller, poking fun at the movie’s viral dance sensation.

The latest Honest Trailer pokes fun at the popular horror film, M3GAN, and the dance that started a viral sensation. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, M3GAN stars Allison Williams as Gemma, a toy maker and roboticist who reluctantly becomes the caretaker of her young niece Cady (Violet McGraw) following a tragic car accident that killed the girl’s parents. In an effort to help Cady, Gemma introduces her to M3GAN, a prototype robot toy with advanced AI. Cady and M3GANform a bond that Gemma soon learns is frighteningly unbreakable.

Screen Junkies’ latest Honest Trailer takes aim at M3GAN, highlighting the diminutive robot’s dance that sparked a viral trend.

The humorous video points out the coincidental rise in recent movies and shows that sparked viral dances to include Wednesday and Matilda: The Musical, and suggests that Hollywood should take advantage of TikTok’s social media dominance for marketing purposes. The horror’s PG-13 rating also received criticism with the Honest Trailer pointing out that nearly all the film’s kills happened off-screen, highlighting the difference between the trailer and the final film.

Related: Every Song M3GAN Sings, Dances & Kills To

Why M3GAN Went Viral

M3GAN‘s dance gained popularity online even before the film’s release this January. Promotional material put M3GAN‘s moves on display, sparking memes and challenges on various social media outlets. According to Johnstone and Williams, the creative partners knew the film’s quick dance scene would result in internet traction, leading the studio to prepare several memes before the movie’s release to assist in marketing. However, due to how viral the moment became, the memes went ultimately unused. The director previously admitted the dance was not in the original script, and was a spur-of-the-moment idea during filming.

With TikTok extremely popular with the film’s PG-13 demographic, Megan’s seemingly random and out of character dance lent itself to the viral nature of the short-form video app. TikTok’s penchant for quick dance videos was perfect for Megan’s 10-second jig. The marketing campaign and viral nature of the scene led to a multitude of parodies including Drew Barrymore replicating the dance on her talk show.

M3GAN‘s dance helped lead the film to over $140 million in box office revenue against its $12 million budget. The silliness of the moment also helped shape critics’ and audiences’ expectations for the movie, hyping up the film’s absurd tone and leading to a 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With M3GAN 2 already in the works, audiences may wonder what dance moves the killer robot has in store for the sequel.

Next: 7 Ways M3GAN Can Return In The 2.0 Sequel

Source: Screen Junkies