Latest news with #ZackCregger
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Weapons' Once Had a Whole Chapter About That Crucial, Mystery Character
Weapons is a film filled with huge secrets and reveals. Secrets and reveals that were very carefully talked around and avoided in the marketing. But now that the film is in theaters, we can talk about them, and in terms of arguably the biggest reveal, writer-director Zack Cregger spoke to us about the different ways he approached it. We're about to dive into some of Weapons' biggest spoilers, so if you haven't seen it yet, be aware. One of Weapons' biggest reveals comes right at the beginning. All the marketing said that every member of Ms. Gandy's (Julia Garner) class disappeared, but that's not true. One boy named Alex (Cary Christopher) remained. And, as the film moves along, we learn Alex is the key to all of this. Alex and, more specifically, his family. A character who didn't appear before release at all is Gladys, Alex's aunt, played by Amy Madigan (Field of Dreams). With each creepy, clown-like appearance, we become increasingly terrified of Gladys until finally, in the chapter dedicated to school principal Andrew (Benedict Wong), all is revealed. Gladys is behind the disappearance of the children because she's an evil witch with an ability to bend people to her will. She uses her magic to not just turn Andrew into a killing machine, but several others, including the kids who disappear. But to what end? We know Gladys' goal is to extend her life, something she's already been doing for an inhuman amount of time. But how exactly that fits in with kidnapping the kids in Alex's class is never clear. Is she sucking their energy? Does just possessing them help her? We don't know. We also don't know where she sees all of this going. Did she just expect to get away with torturing this family and town forever? Plus, there's no hint at all to any of her history. Where did she learn her witchcraft? How long has she been doing it? Are there other witches out there? It's all left intentionally mysterious, though; that wasn't always the case. 'In an earlier draft of the script I had given her her own chapter,' Cregger told io9 of his decision to keep Gladys' goals a mystery. 'It was a little bit of an origin before she came to town. But I realized that it was just giving too much away. It's more compelling to not know some of these things. So I ended up cutting it very early on in the writing process.' One place some of that does exist, however, is just in Cregger's head, and he did decide to talk to his actor about it. 'For [Gladys], I kind of had an idea of what was going on with her,' he said. 'And I talked with Amy [Madigan] about that somewhat, but I also want to respect Amy's process. And I want her to take ownership, and I want her to kind of create her own mythology. So I gave her a couple of options of what I think might be going on. And then I kind of didn't ask her too many questions about where she landed with it.' So while Weapons completely satisfies in answering how the class of kids disappears, that answer just creates more questions. Questions that the film, and filmmaker, did answer—but decided to leave out of the movie. For more from Cregger on Weapons, read the rest of our interview here. Weapons is now in theaters. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Metro
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
'Creepiest horror trailer in years' leaves fans struggling to sleep
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The trailer for Weapons, a new horror from Barbarian writer-director Zack Cregger, has been released – and fans have been left unable to sleep after watching the intense preview. Starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, the trailer for Weapons introduces the audience to a simple premise that focuses on a teacher, Miss Gandy (Garner), walking into her classroom one morning to find all 17 students have disappeared in the night. A child's creepy narration explains that the plot thickens as the teacher quickly becomes a person of interest in her class's disappearance, and CCTV shows that all of the children ran from their homes at 2.17am. The intense trailer then shows graphic, increasingly horrifying imagery, including a creepy child sitting up from a desk in a darkened classroom, a view of a man being smacked into by a car, hands covering a man's face furiously holding him down, and black oil being poured onto someone's face. The movie then ends with the door of a house opening by itself as a child says quietly: 'This is where the story really starts.' Fans were left shell-shocked after the creepy nature of the film, with many taking to social media to say they were left unable to sleep. 'I don't like scary movies and I watched that WEAPONS trailer late last night and I swear to god it was so scary I couldn't even sleep,' said tiatamiaa on X. 'WEAPONS might be the scariest film of the year. What the f**k is that trailer??? lol,' said JakeRileyHunte. 'Man Weapons just *looks* crazy f****n' good,' said eventualforever. 'I watched the trailer for Weapons last night and thought it was so so scary,' said violetfaced. 'These kids are not alright. #Weapons looks messed up [positive].' added Lulamaybelle. 'I had full body chills the last 30 seconds of that trailer, incredible stuff,' said sillierdeadite. The film has had some fantastically frightening marketing attached, with Warner Bros releasing a two-hour-long video that showed children running with their arms out into the woods. The video appeared to be taken from CCTV footage and was left untitled and unexplained on the YouTube channel of the entertainment company. The creepy footage actually sparked some concern from viewers who stumbled across the video, unaware of what they were seeing, and baffled about what the footage was showing. Fans have also spotted some hidden Easter eggs in the footage, highlighting that an image of a baseball team can be seen around a minute and a half into the video – but only for a split second – which may be a key clue about the events in the film, or could be a red herring. Zach Cregger was the mind behind Barbarian, a horror which was met with huge critical acclaim, which he also wrote and directed. More Trending He was also a producer on the recent popular horror film Companion starring Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher, which was also met with huge accolades. Given his strong track record, fans are dead-set that Weapons is set to be another blinding success, which will traumatise viewers for years to come – but in a good way, of course. Weapons is set to be released in cinemas on August 8. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Freaky Friday sequel star had 'concerns' over Asian stereotypes in 2003 original MORE: Amazon Prime Video's 'twisted' thriller sequel lands surprising Rotten Tomatoes score MORE: Gerard Butler's 'trashiest' action thrillers somehow smash into Amazon Prime charts
