Weapons Gets a Prequel: Zach Shields and Zach Cregger Team Up for Gladys
Weapons writer-director Zach Cregger teams with Zach Shields to co-write Gladys, a prequel putting Aunt Gladys center stage.
Okay, yes, Zach Cregger's Weapons made some serious noise when it hit theaters—big enough that the powers-that-be at Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema didn’t waste any time eyeing up sequel/spin-off/franchise territory. Frankly, it doesn’t take an industry psychic to see this coming, but here we are.
Wait, Why All the Fuss?
For those who missed it: Weapons is the latest twisted vision from the mind that brought us Barbarian. Cregger attracted a pretty stacked cast (seriously, see below). The movie itself was shrouded in secrecy right up to release, and it paid off—not just with strong box office, but with some serious critical love. Case in point: Chris Bumbray over at JoBlo gave it a 9/10. Not shabby.
That Cast, Though
- Amy Madigan (Aunt Gladys, who basically stole the movie—and grabbed an Oscar for her trouble)
- Julia Garner (Ozark)
- Josh Brolin (like, Thanos and Llewelyn Moss—come on)
- Alden Ehrenreich (Solo)
- Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange)
- Austin Abrams (Euphoria)
- June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie)
- Cary Christopher (Days of Our Lives)
The Premise (That Nobody Would Spell Out Until Release)
The story goes like this: All but one kid from the same elementary class vanishes—same night, same time—leaving the entire town spinning tales about what’s really behind it. The movie is structured as this interwoven, multi-story horror deal (people kept saying it was ‘like Magnolia but much bloodier’), unraveling who or what is to blame. Yeah, nightmare fuel.
Spotlight On Aunt Gladys
The most interesting part? Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys character apparently had an even bigger backstory planned. According to Cregger, he actually wrote a whole chapter about her. He bailed on it for the sake of runtime, but here’s the wild bit: Madigan herself got to pick from two choices about who (or what) Gladys really is.
Choice one: Gladys is a regular human who’s using some pretty dark magic to cure her disease.
Choice two: Gladys is straight-up not human—she just piles on makeup and wigs hoping folks won’t notice.
That’s about as cryptic as it gets, but hey, it’s a prequel setup if I’ve ever seen one.
So What's Next?
Here’s the latest wrinkle: Cregger is officially teaming up with Zach Shields to turn that cut backstory into a new movie, working title Gladys. If Shields’ name sounds familiar, that’s because he co-wrote Krampus and took a swing at both Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. He’s even put work into the long-awaited (maybe-never-happening?) Trick 'r Treat 2.
If Warner Bros. and New Line are planning to squeeze a franchise out of Weapons, putting these two Zachs together at the keyboard is a pretty solid bet for something at least unpredictable.
Whether Gladys dives into creepy small-town folklore or monster territory (or both), you can bet if anything leaks about that backstory, we’ll talk about it here. For now, we wait to find out if Madigan chose magic, creature, or something stranger.