Will the M3GAN Chatbot Lure You to the Theater, or Send You Screaming Away?

Horror purveyor Blumhouse is serving up triple the terror for its annual “Halfway to Halloween” celebration, bringing M3GAN, Annabelle, and Ma back to theaters. But the M3GAN screenings will be accompanied by a tech twist—amusingly ironic, considering the movie is about a seemingly benevolent tech innovation that instead turns very, very scary. It’s also tied into a gimmick that seems poised to encourage moviegoers to pull out their phones, which is its own nightmare to contemplate. Here’s the pitch from a Blumhouse press release: “Blumhouse is teaming with Meta to bring to life Meta’s second screen experience, Movie Mate, for the first time in theaters across the country. As fans interact with the M3GAN chat bot in theaters, they will receive never-before-seen content, trivia, and behind the scenes info on the film in real time.” Meta’s Omar Zayat described the features as something “designed to get audiences back into theaters,” but is it really an enticement that the person in the ... Read full article.