Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’ Starts Shooting in February

I was waiting for an update on Zach Cregger’s mysterious new movie “Weapons.” We now have one.

The film was all the buzz in Hollywood during the summer. What I had learned was that the film would revolve around “witchcraft and missing children” and would be told via multi and inter-related stories ala “Magnolia”. The screenplay is very thick and, as we speak, could result in a 3 hour movie.

I can now report, having seen a production sheet, that “Weapons” is finally set to start production on February 20th, the shoot will go on until April 18th. Is it fair to assume that we might see this film sometime in the fall of 2024?

The cast for “Weapons” includes Renate Reinsve, Pedro Pascal, Brian Tyree Henry, Tom Burke, Austin Abrams and June Diane Raphael. Did the strike delays result in some actors dropping out? Pascal is supposed to shoot the second season of “The Last Of Us” around this time, so it’s possible he’s been replaced.

Obviously, Warner Bros and New Line are very confident about this one, they won a bidding war that involved multiple other studios and snatched it up for an 8-figure sum. My sources have been telling me “Weapons” screenplay is the real deal and is nothing short of “astonishing”.

Back in January, there was reporting of studios going on a bidding war for “Barbarian” director Cregger’s next film. Warner Bros. and New Line ended up nabbing the rights to the film, an acquisition said to be in the 8-figure range.

The studio is clearly hoping that Cregger becomes a significant horror name in the coming years, in the same vein as Peele, Aster and Eggers. Maybe he will. The film market is currently bustling with horror successes, so investing in an up and coming, and promising, young filmmaker is a smart move.

Cregger turned a lot of heads this past September when “Barbarian” became a critical and commercial success. All this on a skimp $4.5 million budget. “Barbarian” was Cregger’s feature directing debut, his previous work included being in a comedy troupe called The Whitest Kids U Know, so, yeah, nobody really saw this impressive debut coming.