If the wild twists and bizarre ending of Zack Cregger’s previous horror film “Barbarian” are anything to go by, “Weapons” looks like it could be one of the most surprising movies of the summer. We can’t (and wouldn’t) spoil those surprises, but the above YouTube video can explain everything you need to know going into the film before it hits theaters on August 8.
Despite having a couple of 2025’s biggest bombs, Warner Bros. has overall been having a very good year at the box office, not only with expected franchise blockbusters like “Superman” and “A Minecraft Movie” but also with original stories like “Sinners” and “F1.” “Weapons” is another big-scale original, though viral marketing has hinted it may share a cinematic universe with “Barbarian” — a theory Cregger neither confirms nor denies.
Meanwhile, the hype keeps building among horror fans: Jordan Peele was such a fan of the “Weapons” screenplay that he fired his managers when they failed to acquire the rights. Warner Bros. subsidiary New Line Cinema ultimately spent $38 million to acquire and produce the ambitious horror epic. Early tracking predicts “Weapons” will open to at least $25 million at the U.S. box office, a number that could increase as word of mouth spreads.
What is Weapons about?
“Weapons” begins with the mysterious disappearance of 17 third graders at 2:17 a.m. one night in the town of Maybrook. With a structure comparable to Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia,” the film tells multiple interconnected stories about different characters affected by the disappearances, including parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), school principal Marcus (Menedict Wong), and drug dealer Anthony (Austin Abrams).
While this isn’t exactly a “true story” as the trailers suggest, Zach Cregger told Entertainment Weekly that some segments of the film are “legitimately autobiographical” and inspired by personal tragedy. Cregger has also promised there’s much more to the story beyond the initial mystery of the missing children, saying, “The movie will fork and change and reinvent and go in new places … By the midpoint, we’ve moved on to way crazier s*** than that.”
Originally scheduled for release in January 2026, test screening reactions were so enthusiastic that Warner Bros. moved “Weapons” up to a prime late summer release on August 8, 2025. The first social media reactions share that positivity. Gizmodo’s Germain Lussier posted, “#WeaponsMovie is beyond messed up & I loved every second of it,” while critic Griffin Schiller declared it “a horror masterpiece and the best film of the year.” The most divisive aspect appears to be the ending: Slashfilm’s Chris Evangelista said, “The grand finale had me cackling with twisted glee,” whereas Next Best Picture’s Matt Neglia felt that “the final act brought it down a few notches.” Be sure to watch Looper’s explainer video to prepare yourself for “Weapons.”