Los Angeles, Aug 13 (UNI) Riding the crest of Weapons’ resounding commercial triumph, filmmaker Zach Cregger is reportedly in preliminary negotiations with Warren Bros. and New Line Cinema to mount a prequel unravelling the macabre origins of Aunt Gladys, the flamboyantly crimson-wigged oddity.
It has been rendered with unsettling verve by Amy Madigan, whose bizarre allure appears poised to ignite a Halloween costume phenomenon.
One of Weapons’ conceits is its chapter structure centering on particular characters, and sources say that Cregger actually had a chapter focused on Gladys and some of her backstory. He ultimately pulled that section from the script for length purposes. Now with the movie’s wild success, that lost chapter would be expanded into a full-length story. Sources say no deals have been made, nor is there any timeline, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The mooted Weapons prequel joins a constellation of potential undertakings awaiting Creggar post Resident Evil, including Henchman, an original property rumoured to be under the discerning gaze of Warner Bros.’ DC Studios and Flood, a fully realised science-fiction screenplay lying in wait for studio sanction.
Cregger told THR that De Luca called to say he wanted to make the movie. Hours later, Warners and its genre division New Line won the battle over others, including Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, and agreed to pay $38 million for the project. De Luca also tried to land the rights to Cregger’s “Resident Evil”, losing that one to Sony, and he’s been eager to get him back into the studio fold ever since.
During the Aug. 8-10 weekend, Weapons opened to $43 million domestically, more than $10 million ahead of expectations and a huge sum for an original title amid the overall horror downturn at the box office. This week started off with Weapons firing up $5.2 million at the domestic box office, the best August Monday gross ever for a horror title, not adjusted for inflation. That leaves the film with a domestic tally of $48 million and $83 million globally through Monday.
