Zach Cregger's new movie Weapons was inspired by personal 'tragedy'
Zach Cregger's new movie took inspiration from "tragedy" in his real life.
The 44-year-old actor and director is at the helm of the upcoming horror 'Weapons' - which stars Josh Brolin and Julia Garner and follows a small community where 17 children vanish overnight - and insisted that he made sure that parts of it were "legitimately autobiographical" as a way of dealing with his emotions at the time.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "I had a tragedy in my life that was really, really tough. Someone very, very, very close to me died suddenly and, honestly, I was so grief-stricken that I just started writing 'Weapons', not out of any ambition, but just as a way to reckon with my own emotions.
"There's certain chapters of this that are legitimately autobiographical that I feel like I lived."
Cregger also made the 2022 thriller 'Barbarian' - which served as his solo directorial and screenwriting debut - but insisted that this project is "more ambitious" in every way possible, and claimed that the story is "weirder and twistier" than his previous hit.
He said: "I just like that kind of unapologetic, 'This is an epic.'
He added:"I love that movie. I love that kind of bold scale. It gave me permission when I was writing this to shoot for the stars and make it an epic. I wanted a horror epic, and so I tried to do that.
"It is more ambitious [than 'Barbarian'] in almost every way. I don't just mean in terms of the budget, but I just mean creatively.
"The story is weirder and it's twistier and it's bigger. I have way more actors to fit into this thing. The set pieces are definitely bigger. It's just a bigger, weirder movie than 'Barbarian' is.
"I promise you, when you watch it, you will agree with me. It is."
'Weapons' is set for release in the United States on August 8 2025
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