New Line Cinema has announced that they have acquired the screenplay forWeapons, the next project from the team behind 2022’s award-winning horror thriller filmBarbarian. With the acquisition, the project is set to be fast-tracked for a theatrical release with production expected to start later this year.
Reports state that Universal, Netflix, and Sony/TriStar were in the mix, but New Line’s guarantee of a theatrical release is what eventually saw them win out in the end. The project comes from writer-directorZach Cregger, who will also serve as a producer on the project alongside the producing team behindBarbarian. This team includesRoy Leeof Vertigo as well asJ.D. LifshitzandRaphael Margulesof BoulderLight Pictures. Vertigo’sMiri Yoonalso produces. While the finer details ofWeaponsare currently under wraps, we do know that the film will once again fall into the horror-thriller genre and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Along with the announcement of New Line acquiring the project was a statement fromRichard Brener, President and Chief Creative Officer at New Line Cinema. He said:
“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 and Miri, and J.D. and Rafi chose New Line to be the home of his next film, and hope it is the first of many to come.”
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Who Is Zach Cregger?
Cregger is widely known for being a founding member and writer for the New York comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’Know" as well as being a series regular onJimmy Fallon’s NBC seriesGuys with Kidsand the TBS hit seriesWrecked, and was featured in a recurring role on the NBC seriesAbout a Boy. His first outing as a solo writer and director was with theaforementionedBarbarian, which made its debut at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con and generated strong word of mouth ahead of its theatrical release in September of the same year. The film saw great success upon its arrival in theaters, topping the Domestic Box Office on its opening weekend with $10.5 million, making back more than double its production budget of $4.5 million. By the end of its run, the film brought in an impressive total of more than $45 million worldwide.
