Zach Cregger's new horror film Weapons is set to be released in theaters this Friday, and ahead of its debut, the director is opening up about the behind-the-scenes struggles that nearly derailed the project, including the exit of Pedro Pascal. Yes, we're talking about the Emmy-nominated actor who you might recognize from starring as the beloved Joel Miller character in HBO's The Last of Us.
Weapons would've looked much different than how it does now, according to Cregger in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. The highly anticipated horror film originally had a high-profile cast attached, including Pascal, Brian Tyree Henry, Austin Abrams, and Renate Reinsve. However, the 2023 Hollywood strikes caused lengthy production delays. Due to these delays, actors who were originally attached, like Pascal, had scheduling conflicts and couldn’t stay on.
As a result, Cregger tells Entertainment Weekly that he had to recast the entire movie, except for Abrams, who stayed on board through all the delays. Abrams takes on the role of Anthony in the horror flick, who is described as a drug addict and burglar. Pascal was originally going to play the father of a missing child in the movie, but because of scheduling issues, Josh Brolin eventually took over the role. The character's name is Archer Graff. Alden Ehrenreich and Julia Garner would later be cast in the roles of local police officer Paul Morgan and elementary teacher Ms. Justine Gandy.
"This is what happens, right? The strikes delayed us, and then when you delay, people's schedules get conflicts, and then you're back at square one. I bear no ill will towards anybody. We just kept getting delayed and delayed. It's like a domino effect. So I had to start over again." - Zach Cregger
Pascal is no stranger to the horror genre, and playing a father wouldn’t have been a new experience for him had he stayed with the project. That said, there’s no doubt he would have delivered a powerful performance in the Archer role. However, I'm confident Brolin will deliver just as compelling a performance. Remember, we're dealing with an Oscar nominee here.
Weapons takes place in a small town in Pennsylvania where 17 children from a local elementary school vanish all at once, triggering the events of the film. Besides Brolin, Abrams, Ehrenreich, and Garner, the cast is also made up of Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, June Diane Raphael, Toby Huss, and many others.
Early critic reviews look incredible so far, with the horror film currently holding a perfect 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. People have been waiting eagerly to see how Weapons would follow up the success of Cregger’s Barbarian, and if early reactions are any indication, it looks like he’s delivered another terrifying, thought-provoking hit.
Weapons is slated to hit theaters on Aug. 8.
Check out more exciting content on WiC below: