Weapons: Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher cast in Barbarian director’s next film

Last year, New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger and the film’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Cregger’s next film, a mysterious horror project called Weapons… which was, at one point, set to star Pedro Pascal of The Last of Us and Renate Reinsve of The Worst Person in the World. Pascal and Reinsve have both had to drop out of the project (Pascal so he can star in the Fantastic Four instead), but now we know the names of several cast members who will be on set when the film goes into production. We’ve previously heard that Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), Julia Garner (Ozark), and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo) are in the cast. Now Deadline reveals that they’re joined by Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange), Amy Madigan (Antlers), Austin Abrams (Euphoria), and Cary Christopher (Days of Our Lives).

Details on the characters the cast members will be playing are being kept under wraps. In fact, 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 and will be 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.

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.“

In addition to working with them on Weapons, New Line signed a first look deal with BoulderLight Pictures, tasking the company with developing high concept genre projects for them, and they gave a greenlight to the thriller Companion, produced by BoulderLight and Cregger.

Are you interested in Weapons? What do you think of the cast Cregger has assembled for the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.