Blumhouse's New R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller Sets Rotten Tomatoes Record For $220M Franchise

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Blumhouse's beta test with a spinoff sets a record for its sci-fi franchise.

The studio built its reputation for producing original horror content and spawning major franchises, such as Insidious, Paranormal Activity, and The Black Phone. Among the major hits was the campy sci-fi horror movie, M3GAN, which became a $181.8 million blockbuster. The success encouraged Blumhouse to expand the sci-fi horror into a major franchise, which included a sequel and a spinoff. However, that decision backfired, as M3GAN 2.0 did not make the same strides as the original.

Meanwhile, the spinoff thriller Soulm8te went straight to streaming on August 1, 2026, and first reactions are slowly trickling in. As of writing, the first M3GAN spinoff debuted with a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. While it's currently the lowest-rated score in the horror franchise, it's only just two points below M3GAN 2.0. However, that rating may change over time because there are only 11 reviews so far. Soulm8te has no audience score at this time.

Many Soulm8te reviews agree that one of the highlights was Lily Sullivan's performance as the programmed android, which is complemented by David Rysdahl's widower coping with his wife's death. However, a major criticism was that the erotic thriller wasn't innovative and played too heavily on the genre tropes of Fatal Attraction and Ex Machina. While the spinoff is the franchise's first R-rating, some critics felt that the installment failed to replicate the original movie's campiness.

Soulm8te was originally scheduled to release in theaters on January 2, 2026, which would have come out seven months after M3GAN 2.0. Unfortunately, the 2025 sequel became a major box-office disappointment, collecting just $39.1 million against a $15 million to $25 million budget.

Following a lack of updates and no trailer, Universal Pictures finally decided to pull Soulm8te from the calendar in December 2025, two weeks before its intended release. At the time, outlets reported that the third installment was being shopped around for a new distributor. The major studio then announced in early July that Soulm8te would skip theaters and go straight to streaming.

Soulm8te is available to rent or purchase on video-on-demand.