Following an intense bidding war, New Line Cinema has acquired Weapons, the latest horror project from Barbarian writer-director Zach Cregger, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.
In addition to writing and directing, Cregger will produce the film alongside Barbarian producers Roy Lee of Vertigo and BoulderLight Pictures’ J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Marguels. Vertigo’s Miri Yoon is also a producer on the project.
THR notes that “Plot details of Weapons are being kept holstered, but it is described as an interrelated, multistory horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia, the 1999 actor-crammed showcase from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.” The film is guaranteed a theatrical release and Cregger will receive final cut privileges, so long as a threshold is met during test screenings.
Cregger, who was a founding member of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’Know, broke onto the horror scene in style last year when Barbarian raked in over $40 million at the U.S. box office against a budget of just $4.5 million. The film starred Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, and Justin Long and centered around a rental house in a rundown neighbourhood in Detroit.
“Zach proved with Barbarian that he can create a visceral theatrical experience for audiences and that he commands every tool in the filmmaker toolbelt,” New Line’s president and CCO, Richard Brener, said in a statement. “We couldn’t be happier that he, Roy [Lee] and Miri [Yoon], and J.D. [Lifshitz]and Rafi [Margules] chose New Line to be the home of his next film, and hope it is the first of many to come.”
Words: Samantha McLaren (@themeatispeople)
