Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger has assembled a strong cast for his mysterious horror project called Weapons, including Julia Garner (Ozark), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo), Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange), Amy Madigan (Antlers), Austin Abrams (Euphoria), June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie), and Cary Christopher (Days of Our Lives)… and during an interview with Collider, Garner said that we should not expect Weapons to be “a proper horror movie.”

Most details about Weapons are shrouded in mystery. It has been said that it’s “an interrelated, multistory horror epic” that’s tonally in the vein of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, and The Hollywood Reporter adds that the story revolves around the disappearance of high schoolers in a small town.

Cregger wrote the Weapons screenplay (which Brolin has said had “a really brilliant design”) and is directing the film. He’s also producing it with Roy Lee and Miri Yoon of Vertigo and J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures. At one point, Pedro Pascal of The Last of Us was set to star in the film with and Renate Reinsve of The Worst Person in the World. Pascal had to leave the project so he could star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of Fantastic Four (which Garner also has a role in) instead, and it appears that Reinsve followed him out the door.

New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Cregger and Barbarian’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Weapons, which they’re planning to give a theatrical release date on January 16, 2026 (but they might end up moving it into 2025).

New Line Cinema is paying Cregger a sum in the eight figure range to make this movie. When they won the bidding war over the rights, New Line’s president and CCO Richard Brener released the following statement: “Zach proved with Barbarian that he can create a visceral theatrical experience for audiences and that he commands every tool in the filmmaker toolbelt. We couldn’t be happier that he, Roy [Lee] and Miri [Yoon], and J.D. [Lifshitz]and Rafi [Margules] chose New Line to be the home of his next film, and hope it is the first of many to come.“

When the subject of Weapons came up, Garner told Collider, “It’s not a proper horror movie. It feels very Zach Cregger in that element. There are some comedic elements to it. Barbarian felt like that as well.” It’s not clear what Garner considers to be “a proper horror movie,” but she does have some genre experience, as her credits include the Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A and the Wolf Man reboot that reaches theatres this weekend.

Are you looking forward to Weapons, whether or not Julia Garner believes it’s “a proper horror movie”? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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