Director Zach Cregger’s Weapons is looking to add some major star power to its arsenal. Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Sicario) is now in talks to join the cast of the film, which serves as Cregger’s follow-up to his 2022 horror hit Barbarian. This, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with the outlet noting that the Oscar-nominated actor is now in negotiations with New Line Cinema for the project. While he hasn’t signed on the dotted line just yet, things appear to be headed in that direction.
Originally, the film was due to star Pedro Pascal, of The Last of Us and The Mandalorian fame. However, last year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down Hollywood for months on end and delayed this film’s production schedule. That created a conflict with Pascal, who is now due to star in Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot. When one door closes, another one opens, paving the way for Brolin to take over. Should the deal close, it will be significant as it will mark the first time in the actor’s storied career that will have a leading role in a straight-up horror movie. He did have a minor role in 2007’s Planet Terror, as well as 2000’s Hollow Man.
Plot details for Weapons are currently being kept tightly under wraps. It is, however, described intriguingly as “an interrelated, multistory horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia.” That’s admittedly difficult to picture but it sounds pretty wild. Cregger penned the screenplay for the film personally, with production expected to begin soon. Roy Lee, J.D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules and Miri Yoon are on board to produce the film.
Brolin has been a mainstay in Hollywood for decades, appearing in everything from The Goonies to Dune. He also starred in some of the biggest movies of all time, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, playing the villainous Thanos. Some of his other notable credits include American Gangster, Men in Black 3 and Milk, for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.
Barbarian was one of the biggest surprises of 2022. The mysterious film came out of nowhere to become a word-of-mouth success, pulling in $45 million at the box office against a budget of less than $5 million. That made him a hot commodity, with New Line beating out the competition to land the rights to his next film.
Weapons does not currently have a release date but stay tuned as we’ll be sure to keep you posted as new info comes our way.
