Zach Cregger is keeping quiet on the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding his breakout horror film “Weapons.” In a new interview with IndieWire, the filmmaker declined to comment on the long-rumored tension with Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions, which reportedly lost out on producing the project after a heated studio bidding war.
Asked directly about the story—which alleged that Peele fired an executive after Monkeypaw failed to secure “Weapons”—Cregger replied simply: “That’s not for me to talk about.”
The bidding war over “Weapons” was one of Hollywood’s most-watched showdowns of 2023. Following the massive success of Cregger’s debut feature “Barbarian,” studios scrambled for his follow-up. Ultimately, New Line Cinema won the film with an eight-figure deal that reportedly rivaled major franchise packages, sidelining Monkeypaw despite its early interest.
Reflecting on the frenzy, Cregger said the competitive environment gave him rare creative leverage. “For ‘Weapons,’ I was very fortunate that I had a lot of interest from a lot of different buyers,” he explained. “When you’re in a situation like that, where you have multiple people bidding on the movie, you can basically list your demands, and whoever meets your demands gets your movie. Part of my demands were cast approval, final cut, and theatrical release.”
Cregger’s success has since made him one of the most in-demand horror filmmakers working today. He’s next set to direct “Resident Evil,” a new genre project scheduled to shoot this fall and already has a September 2026 release date. Beyond that, he’s developing a prequel centered on Amy Madigan’s mysterious character Gladys from “Weapons,” one of several ideas he currently has in motion across multiple studios.
But while “Gladys” will expand on a character who haunted audiences in “Weapons,” Cregger suggested it won’t be another emotionally heavy exercise in grief and despair—a trend he believes has overtaken much of modern horror.
“Look, how could you tell a horror story without some element of trauma being present? It’s a traumatic genre,” Cregger said. “However, I agree with you. The horror movie as a meditation on trauma or a meditation on grief… I am so ready to move beyond that. I’m not interested in telling a story that’s an examination or an indulgence of the ripple effects of trauma.”
Instead, he teased that the Gladys prequel will offer a fresh tonal pivot. “I have a really fun story with Gladys that happens before ‘Weapons,’ and I like it a lot,” he said. “To see Amy do this character in a different circumstance is really exciting. It makes me smile to think about it.”
“Weapons” is available now on HBO Max.
