Zach Cregger's Weapons went on to gross over $270 million at the worldwide box office after an overwhelmingly positive critical response, so it didn't come as much of a surprise when we got word that the studio was mulling over the idea of a follow-up.
A prequel focusing on Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) was said to be "on the table" at Warner Bros., and it seems Madigan's recent Best Supporting Actress Academy Award win was enough to push the project into development.
Deadline reports that Cregger and Zach Shields will write the screenplay for the movie, which currently has the working title, "Gladys."
Cregger will also produce along with Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, but there's no mention of him returning to the director's chair.
Weapons plays out from the perspective of several characters, including teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), distraught parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), and Alex (Cary Christopher), the only child from Gandy's classroom who didn't go on an early-morning jog.
Alex is forced to do the bidding of his Aunt Gladys, who turns out to be the powerful witch behind the children's disappearance and all manner of other ghastly goings on in the town.
Originally, Gladys was going to be a POV character, with a chapter dedicated to revealing a little more of her backstory. However, Cregger ultimately decided to cut it to keep the running time down.
"This is a woman who knows what she has to do, and she does it,” Madigan said of her character prior to her Oscar win. “Now, granted, some of her methods might be a little unusual. But she has that, and I think all women in our business should have more of that confidence, myself included. So if I can take that away from it, I’ll say this is a win for Aunt Gladys and for me.”
Cregger will next tackle a Resident Evil reboot, and has several other irons in the fire, including his sci-fi film, Flood, and a (potential) DC Studios project focusing on Batman's villains, Henchman.
What do you make of this news? Would you like to see a Weapons prequel focusing on Gladys?
From New Line Cinema and Zach Cregger, the wholly original mind behind Barbarian, comes a new horror/thriller: Weapons. When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
The film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, with Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.
Cregger directs from his own screenplay, and also produces alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, with Michelle Morrissey and Josh Brolin executive producing. The filmmaker’s creative team behind the camera includes director of photography Larkin Seiple, production designer Tom Hammock, editor Joe Murphy and costume designer Trish Sommerville. The music is by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger.