Zach Cregger, the director behind the hit horror film Barbarian, made a powerful return to the genre with an unsettling sneak peek of his latest project, Weapons, at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas. The film, which promises to captivate audiences with its eerie atmosphere, was showcased during Warner Bros.’s dynamic presentation.
Cregger’s new venture features a star-studded ensemble cast, including Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, and June Diane Raphael. Garner plays the role of an elementary school teacher who faces the unimaginable when she discovers that her entire first-period class mysteriously vanished overnight.
The film’s trailer, shown exclusively to global theater owners, introduces an eerie narrative. In a chilling voiceover, a young girl recounts the unsettling events: “Mrs. Gandy’s room was totally empty,” she says, before revealing that at 2:17 a.m., every child woke up, left their beds, and walked into the dark, never to return.
As the small town grapples with the bizarre disappearances, Garner’s character becomes the target of frustrated parents and school officials, with Brolin portraying a devastated father seeking answers about his missing daughter. Tensions rise as the children’s apparitions begin to appear before Garner, their hollow eyes and disturbing smiles adding to the film’s growing horror.
The trailer also revealed disturbing footage of children sleepwalking through the dark, their behavior unnervingly possessed, culminating in the appearance of a terrifying figure—resembling a female clown—lurking in the woods.
New Line Cinema’s Richard Brener described Weapons as “intriguing and unpredictable, with a nice helping of batshit insane,” adding that audiences would “appreciate the ride.” Cregger himself teased that the film is one that “unravels and reinvents itself as it goes,” promising a unique and twisted experience.
Following the success of Barbarian, which became a breakout hit in 2022, Weapons is generating significant buzz. Cregger’s previous film was not only a hit for Warner Bros. Discovery’s fledgling streaming service Max but also grossed nearly $50 million at the box office on a modest $4 million budget.
Originally slated for a January 2026 release, Weapons has been moved up to August 2025, signaling Warner Bros.’s confidence in the film. It will now open just a week after Together, another highly anticipated genre film that was acquired by Neon following its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
