You don’t exactly think of Blumhouse and Universal’s Ma when you think about defining modern horror.
It’s one of those movies that’s easy to forget exists… until you remember it quietly became a legitimate hit.
Released in 2019, the revenge thriller reportedly cost just $5 million to produce before grossing more than $60 million worldwide. Since then, the film has developed an unexpected second life online, spawning countless memes, becoming a social media favorite, and even inspiring its own haunted house at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights.
So maybe a sequel isn’t as surprising as it once sounded.
While Ma 2 has yet to be officially greenlit, the project is reportedly in development, and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures) has now offered an encouraging update.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Spencer revealed:
“We are working hard on getting a great script out. Blumhouse is the best at what they do. It’s going to be chock-full of surprises.”
The idea of revisiting Sue Ann has been floating around for years. Back in 2021, director Tate Taylor explained why he intentionally left the door open for a sequel.
“I don’t think we thought Ma was going to have this afterlife as this cult thing, and I think it’s worth discussing [a sequel],” he also told EW. “I know Octavia would do it, that’s why I purposely left her death ambiguous!
“My idea is that she’s moved to another town, and she has open houses in another city and kills people in the open house,” Taylor added. “I think she’d be a real estate agent in the Pacific Northwest, and just murder white people looking at McMansions. That’s as far as I’ve gotten!”
That “afterlife” has only grown in the years since. What began as a modestly budgeted thriller has become something of a cult phenomenon, embraced by horror fans and internet culture alike.
There’s still no word on when Ma 2 will officially move forward, but Spencer’s latest comments suggest Blumhouse is actively trying to crack the story
