Zach Cregger turned a lot of heads in the fall of 2022 when “Barbarian” became a critical and commercial success. All this on a skimp $4.5M budget.
Cregger’s sophomore effort is the highly anticipated “Weapons,” which was dated for January 16, 2026 release. However, The InSneider is now reporting that “Weapons” will be moved to the 2025 calendar as test screenings have been great for the film, and Warner Bros seems to believe they have a major title in their hands:
“Weapons” was assigned a release date last May, before Warner Bros. and New Line really knew what they had on their hands, but the film has been testing very well since then, and I’m told Warners is excited to get it out there. The studio wants to keep Cregger in the fold long-term, and if that’s the case, a January release simply won’t do.
Last spring, “Weapons” was all the buzz in Hollywood. Warner Bros and New Line won a bidding war, that involved multiple other studios, and snatched up the rights for an 8-figure sum. With this next one, Cregger could turn into a significant name in the horror genre, in the same vein as Peele, Aster and Eggers.
“Weapons” has a plot told via multi and inter-related storylines. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” was reportedly a major influence.
Having recently read the script, I can see why. The plot has to do with children disappearing in a small town, they all wake up in the middle of the night and walk out of their homes, not to be seen again. Everyone is bewildered, and the rest of the film tells the story from the perspective of multiple characters: teacher, detective, family.
There are also supernatural elements involved in the story — including witchcraft — but the plot is just as much about the inhabitants and their background stories as it is about the missing children. It’s quite the ambitious undertaking and if Cregger nails it on screen then it could turn into something really great.
Josh Brolin, who tends to be very picky with his projects, recently admitted that he was convinced to join “Weapons” after reading the script, “I'm serious when I say I think it's a brilliant design of a script. Brilliant."
The cast for “Weapons” includes the likes of Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Brian Tyree Henry, Tom Burke, Austin Abrams, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong and June Diane Raphael.