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. They 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. Last May, it was announced that Pedro Pascal of The Last of Us had signed on to star in Weapons… and six months later, it was reported that Pascal was also in talks to play Reed Richards in Marvel’s new attempt at bringing the Fantastic Four to the big screen. Last month, a rumor started to circulate that the shooting schedules for Weapons and Fantastic Four were conflicting, so Pascal would have to choose one project over the other, and he was going with Fantastic Four. The fact that Pascal is no longer involved with Weapons has been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter – and they’ve also revealed that he might be replaced by Dune, Avengers: Infinity War, and No Country for Old Men star Josh Brolin! A deal hasn’t been closed yet, but Brolin is in talks.
We never got any details on the character Pascal would have been playing, and now Brolin will hopefully be playing, in Weapons. In fact, most details about the project 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.
Weapons was originally supposed to start filming last fall. If it had, Pascal would have been able to stick with it. But production was delayed due to the strikes that hit Hollywood last year.
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.
We previously heard that Renate Reinsve, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film The Worst Person in the World, would be in this film as well. It’s not clear if she’s still attached.
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.“
Are you disappointed to hear that Pedro Pascal won’t be in Weapons? Are you glad to hear the role might be going to Josh Brolin now? Let us know by leaving a comment below.