Gerard Johnstone Didn't Intend For The M3GAN Dance To Take Over The World

Even if you haven't seen "M3GAN," chances are, you've seen the meme of the killer A.I. doll dancing down the hall in the hit horror comedy from director Gerard Johnstone ("Housebound") and screenwriter Akela Cooper ("Malignant"). For better or worse, we're living in a time when movies are often reduced to memes, and the faces that hold sway over the box office belong to blue aliens and humanoid robot girls (as opposed to actual humans). It almost feels like something out of a "Black Mirror" episode, where the culture at large is filled with so much white noise that it takes a bizarre, out-of-context image like M3GAN dancing to hijack its attention.

When the first trailer for "M3GAN" dropped last October, the shot of the titular doll doing her self-possessed dance was soon memeified across Twitter and TikTok, with even celebrities like rapper Megan Thee Stallion getting in on the conversation. Not to be outdone, some of M3GAN's "besties" rang in the New Year by bringing her viral dance to the halftime show at a cross-town football game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams earlier this month.

The dance, however, wasn't necessarily intended as corporate meme fuel in the way of cute, Disney-owned space critters like Porgs, Baby Yoda, and Baby Groot. In fact, its popularity took Johnstone somewhat by surprise. In BJ Colangelo's recent interview with Johnstone for /Film, the director said:

"When I saw all those girls walk out at that NFL game, it was just unbelievable. It was such a silly idea — all I wanted to do was make the movie more fun. And it was a really stressful day shooting that scene. Every day on the movie was stressful. And so none of us were thinking, 'Hey, this is going to make a dent in the culture.'"

While Johnstone didn't consciously try to jumpstart the internet's love affair with M3GAN's dance, his movie does use a sci-fi horror scenario to make a point about the dangers of latching onto technology as a substitute for real relationships (or, worse yet, farming out childcare to toys powered by artificial intelligence). It's as if "M3GAN" has not only made a "dent," but outright conquered the very culture it satirizes. Though it might be missing the point, one can well imagine a person sharing a M3GAN meme on social media, then relishing all the little dopamine hits they get from likes and shares.

While Johnstone was on the set of "M3GAN," making the movie, he was much more focused on just getting the shots he needed. "We were trying to use the best takes and do justice to Amie [Donald, who played M3GAN in shots that required complex movement] and the choreographer that had come up with a dance," he said.

Eventually, the dance took on a life of its own, leaving us with a movie moment of its time and for its time. Johnstone reflected:

"There were other dances that [M3GAN] did, and there were some other moves that I wish we had been able to include that were just as equally kind of creepy. And it's funny because we got to come back and do some pickups, and for a while I was kind of campaigning to add a few more shots to that dance sequence. But by then the trailer had come out and it did what it did, and I realized, 'Oh, I don't think I need to do anymore. I think it's good.' And the more I see it, the more I realize how it's just become its own perfect little moment."

"M3GAN" is in theaters now.