You’re at home with your friends or family. The turkey is gone. The football game is over. The conversation is slowing. What can everyone do to keep the holiday spirit alive? Well, 2025 has been a pretty fantastic year for movies, and many of the best ones released this year are streaming right now in your home. Maybe you should watch one of those.
But which one? Below, we’ve got 11 suggestions of sci-fi, horror, or fantasy films released this year that we love and maybe you missed. Some you probably didn’t miss. But we’re going under the assumption not everyone has seen everything, so even if you’ve seen something, maybe your brother or sister hasn’t. Here they are, in alphabetical order.
Bugonia (for rent or purchase)
Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons star in the latest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos about two men who kidnap a CEO they believe to be an alien. It’s super timely, very mysterious, and incredibly hilarious. Read our review here.
Elio (on Disney+)
It was kind of a box office bomb, but Pixar’s latest film, about a young boy who becomes the voice of the entire planet, is wildly exciting and heartwarming. It 100% lives up to its Pixar pedigree. Read our review here.
Final Destination Bloodlines (on HBO Max)
Maybe don’t show this one to Grandma and Grandpa, but the latest film in the tense, funny, gory horror series about the inevitability of death is easily the best film in the franchise. A total riot. Read our review here.
Frankenstein (on Netflix)
Frankenstein isn’t Guillermo del Toro’s best movie, but it’s the one he’s been building towards his whole life. It’s a sumptuous, emotional, and unforgettable retelling of the classic tale with wonderful performances across the board. Read our review here.
How to Train Your Dragon (on Peacock)
The original animated How to Train Your Dragon is one of the best animated films ever. So, that its live-action remake is also very good is no surprise. It’s the exact same movie, just with a whole new look. Read our review here.
The Life of Chuck (for rent or purchase)
We adore this movie. It’s not for everyone, and it gets very weird very quickly, but once it clicks and that lightbulb goes off over your head, you’ll never forget it. Mike Flanagan has become the master of Stephen King adaptations, and this wonderful, joyous King adaptation is so different from the rest. Read our review here, and learn more about some spoilers here.
The Long Walk (for rent or purchase)
A group of young men compete in a life-changing event where they have to march until only one remains. Based on the Stephen King novel, the film adaptation is shockingly brutal but well worth the trip for the harrowing performances. Read our review here.
Predator: Killer of Killers (on Hulu)
Did you see or hear about that awesome Predator movie, Predator: Badlands, that’s now in theaters? Well, its director, Dan Trachtenberg, released another Predator movie earlier this year, and it might be even better. It’s an animated anthology showing Predators fighting humans from across history. It’s phenomenal. Read our review here.
Sinners (on HBO Max)
Part music-driven masterpiece, part terrifying horror story, Sinners is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. But, we’ve come to expect that kind of quality and originality from the team of director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan. Read our review here.
Superman (on HBO Max)
There have been so many iterations of Superman over the years, you could’ve assumed James Gunn’s new film was more of the same. But that’s not the case. Gunn’s film has a palpable joy about it. An optimism and excitement that so many superhero films these days are lacking. This is one you’ll want to watch again and again. Read our review here.
Weapons (on HBO Max)
Again, maybe this one isn’t for the more easily scared or grossed-out members of your family, but for others, Weapons is a can’t-miss. A horror mystery about a town that loses a whole classroom of kids is wholly entertaining and unforgettable. And messed up. And scary. And awesome. Read our review here.
Also…
If you want to go to theaters, there are also plenty of good movies to see. Yes, everyone might be seeing Wicked: For Good, and you could do that, but we’d suggest Predator: Badlands, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, The Running Man, or Zootopia 2 instead.
Finally, we didn’t want this list to be too long, so if nothing on there interests you, here are a few others that didn’t quite make the cut: Pee Wee as Himself (on HBO Max), Jaws @ 50 (on Hulu or Disney+), 28 Years Later (on Netflix), or Black Phone 2 (for rent or purchase).
Amy Madigan has been acting in films and TV since the early 1980s, but she’s having a breakout year thanks to Weapons. Aunt Gladys anchors Zach Cregger’s complex tale with a reminder that pure evil can be found just about anywhere, even in the form of an aging relative passing through suburbia. Gladys’ distinctive style has spawned countless Halloween costumes—as well as Oscar buzz for Madigan. And if she gets a nod, know that she did the physical work necessary to make Gladys come to life, especially in Weapons‘ grueling final scene.
“‘Oh, no, I’m running,” she recalled telling Cregger about the scene, which sees Gladys frantically racing away from the kids she’s bewitched when the spell is broken and they all turn on her at once. She knows what they’ll do to her if they catch her, which they do in the movie’s most gruesome sequence.
“‘I’m definitely running. I’m doing it.’ So all of that, just revving it up that the payoff, I thought. was great. It’s like, yeah, just rip her apart. I think some people find it funny. Some people are like, ‘I don’t know about that ending.’ Some people find it justice has prevailed, so that’s good.”
She had “a blast” doing the scene, though she did take the time to make sure all the child actors weren’t actually scared of her. Considering how frightening she looks on screen, that probably was just as tough as all that sprinting.
Madigan also spoke a bit about how audiences have interpreted Aunt Gladys—and her delight that the character has resonated so deeply.
“People were pulling out threads of things and they interpreted it in a way, and that’s the fun about it. That’s what’s exciting about it,” she said, then referenced one fan theory in particular: that Elvis Presley’s mother, who was also named Gladys, helped inform the character. “I never would’ve ever thought of Elvis’ mom. So it’s like, yeah, go ahead and run with that. I’m not saying yes to that or no to that, but okay, that’s a theory.”
On September 19, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made a $61,218 payment for “guided missile warheads and explosive components,” according to the Product and Service Code (PSC) included in the payment record on a federal contracting database.
“This award provides multiple distraction devices to support law enforcement operations and ICE- Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs,” the record’s description section reads.
The Substack Popular Information mentioned this payment in a Monday article, which focused on the fact that ICE spending in the “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing” product category increased by 700 percent between 2024 and 2025. (Spending increased by about 636 percent, per WIRED’s analysis of the same category and time periods Popular Information measured.) Word of the payment also circulated on Tuesday after a post on BlueSky by Democratic Wisconsin state senator Chris Larson went viral.
It turns out, concern over ICE agents planning to use warheads is likely based on a mistake. Quantico Tactical, the company listed as the supplier of said warheads in the federal payment records, does not sell any explosive devices. (It sells a variety of firearms, switchblades, and weapon accessories.) David Hensley, founder and CEO of Quantico Tactical, told WIRED in an email that the PSC “appears to be an error.”
“Quantico Tactical does not sell, and I suspect that CBP ICE does not purchase, ‘Guided Missile Warheads,’” Hensley said, referencing Customs and Border Protection. He added that the rest of the payment record appears to be correct.
PSCs are assigned by a government agency’s contracting office, not the private contractor. Hensley declined to speculate on what the correct PSC for the payment may be. He also declined to clarify which “distraction devices” ICE purchased. However, ICE made two other payments to Quantico Tactical for “distraction devices” in September 2024 and August 2025.
The descriptions for both payment records claim that they are for training programs run by ICE’s Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs (OFTP). Both payments records use the PSC for “chemical weapons and equipment,” which includes items like “flame throwers” and “smoke generators.”
An ICE “Firearms and Use of Force” handbook from 2021 does not mention any approved use of flame throwers, but it does mention the use of “chemical munitions” such as smoke, pepper spray, and tear gas. (It notes that their use must be approved by the agency’s associate director and the OFTP.) Quantico Tactical does not list smoke bombs, pepper spray, or tear gas for sale on its website, though it does list accessories like smoke-resistant goggles and holders for mace, flash grenades, and smoke bombs. It’s unclear what ICE may have purchased.
With one of the biggest horror movies of the year, Zach Cregger wants his upcoming prequel to Weapons to be its own beast.
The writer/director recently teased the spin-off about the mysterious Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), which he confirmed last month is in development, admitting he’s considered whether unpacking the villain’s origin story would ruin the movie’s mystique.
“It’s crossed my mind,” Cregger told TheWrap after Gladys was originally set for her own chapter in the first film. “But I think that the Gladys story is such an interesting story that I think it’s going to feel very separate and stand on its own two feet, and I don’t think it’s going to diminish Weapons.”
In Weapons, all but one child in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class goes missing when they each mysteriously wake up and run off into the night at exactly 2:17am. The truth of what happened to the kids unravels through the perspectives of multiple characters, portrayed by Madigan, Josh Brolin, Austin Abrams, Cary Cristopher and Benedict Wong.
Following the overwhelming fan response to Aunt Gladys, Cregger added, “The thrill of my life to see Amy and what’s been going on with all of this has been so great. I can only hope that there’s a lot of Halloween Gladyses out there.”
Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys in ‘Weapons’
Warner Bros.
After Deadline confirmed in August that New Line is in early talks for a prequel to Weapons, Cregger said he “was ready” for the origin story. “I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out,” he said.
President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its war there soon — suggesting that he could be ready to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government using a key weapons system.
“I might say, ’Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”
Trump said, “I might tell them that if the war is not settled — that we may very well.” He added, “We may not, but we may do it. I think it’s appropriate to bring up.”
His comments came after Trump spoke by phone earlier Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Trump said he mentioned possibly sending Tomahawks during that conversation.
“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in that direction? I don’t think so,” Trump said of Russia. “I think I might speak to Russia about that.” He added that “Tomahawks are a new step of aggression.”
His suggestions followed Russia having attacked Ukraine’s power grid overnight, part of an ongoing campaign to cripple Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter. Moscow also expressed “extreme concern” over the U.S. potentially providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Putin himself has previously suggested that the United States supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
For his part, Zelenskyy described his latest call with Trump as “very productive,” and said the pair had discussed strengthening Ukraine’s “air defense, resilience, and long-range capabilities,” along with “details related to the energy sector.”
Trump in recent weeks has taken a notably tougher tact with Putin, after the Russian leader has declined to engage in direct talks with Zelenskyy about easing fighting.
But the U.S. president, at least so far, has resisted Zelenskyy’s calls for Tomahawks. The weapon system would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and put the sort of pressure on Putin that Zelenskyy argues is needed to get the Russians to seriously engage in peace talks.
Trump said aboard Air Force One of the war: “I really think Putin would look great if he got this settled” and that “It’s not going to be good for him” if not.
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Darlene Superville, Will Weissert, The Associated Press
DENVER – Denver Public Schools has launched a pilot program, using weapon detecting dogs as a safety tool for large district events.
Vivian, the black labrador, was one of several K-9s working the homecoming game at All-City Stadium Friday night. At 8-years old she’s already worked a few Super Bowls, major league baseball games, concerts and is now helping DPS.
“Vivian is imprinted on 29 different explosive odors and firearms, gunshot residue, ammunition that type of stuff. She’s pretty good at identifying those things just with the nose,” said her handler Bob Lovelace with K2 K9 Solutions.
The dogs are being used as a pilot program.
“We’re always looking at ways to ensure our schools, our events are safe and welcoming,” said Greg Cazzell, Chief of Climate and Safety for DPS.
Some locations of big district events, like All-City, do have metal detectors too.
“The metal detectors can be a little bit more intrusive to people than what the dogs are. We specifically use Labradors and a few a handful of German shorthair pointers, because they tend to be pretty friendly, pretty happy,” said Lovelace.
The dogs will work all large district events with big crowds until the end of the first semester. The pilot cost around $160,000 and feedback from community members at the events will be a strong indication of whether the district will extend the program.
In the last three weeks since the pilot launched, the dogs have not detected a weapon. Cazzell said that’s actually the point.
“We don’t know what we have prevented from coming in. So again, that is one of the benefits that we believe: it’s proactive preventative,” he said.
For Lovelace, it’s a full circle moment.
“I was actually a first responder to Columbine, and had a son that went there,” he said, “We responded after the tragedy, and now I get the opportunity to be out here with Vivian trying to prevent that from happening in the first place.”
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Weapons is one of those horror movies that lingers after you watch it, finding new ways to freak you out even after the lights come up. But the most indelible part of Zach Cregger’s haunting tale is its villain, Aunt Gladys, played by Amy Madigan. We’ve learned about the origins of the character, her style inspirations, and how Cregger calibrated the reveal of her sinister powers. But now Cregger is lifting the lid on how he came up with Gladys’ particular style of magic.
“That song is just an instruction manual on how to create a zombie,” he explained. “It’s no singing, it’s just someone explaining to you this ritual. I love it ’cause it’s a weird ritual where you soak a dollar bill in rum and set it on fire and arrange four mirrors for the four corners of the earth and get a shard of a human skull and all these things. I was like, ‘One day, I wanna make up my own crazy, evil recipe.’ This movie was my chance to do that.”
Weapons production designer helped Cregger fine-tune Gladys’ signature “bowl of water” ritual. “It needed to be simple and very digestible,” Cregger recalled. “I needed people to get it the first or second time they saw it.”
Head to EW for more from Cregger, including his detailed explanation of how he and Madigan collaborated on Gladys’ memorable final scene—a frantic foot chase with its own equally unexpected source material, including Raising Arizona and Point Break.
Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.
He is also a member of Aspen Institute Italy and board member of Aspenia. Before joining Hudson, Mr. Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). Mr. Mead’s most recent book is entitled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.
The Pentagon has told suppliers of missiles to the U.S. that their production of the weapons needs to as much as quadruple, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
This urgency to increase missile production, as the U.S. looks with concern at its stockpiles over the potential for a future war with China, was laid out at meetings between top Pentagon officials and representatives from U.S. weapons manufacturers, the Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The depletion of missiles has been a focus of concern in recent years, particularly as the U.S. supplied Ukraine during Russia’s ongoing invasion. U.S. President Donald Trump is now weighing whether to give Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Zach Cregger was far from home throughout Weapons’ storybook run this past summer. The writer-director was 6,000 miles away in Prague, prepping his next film, Resident Evil, which found itself in a hard-fought bidding war just like Weapons did in 2023. When the dust settled on New Line/Warners’ $38 million purchase of the latter, the betterment of its highly in-demand script was only just beginning.
A reference to a tray of hot dogs and assorted junk food became a tray of seven hot dogs, which served as a touching, esoteric tribute to Cregger’s late dear friend and longtime The Whitest Kids U’ Know collaborator, Trevor Moore. The mere act of writing Weapons began as a way for Cregger to process Moore’s August 2021 death.
Other improvements were made such as a scene in which Josh Brolin’s Archer takes ownership of his grief-stricken blunders at one of his company’s construction sites. Originally, the script had him lash out at his foreman for mistakes made by their crew. Character names were also changed so there weren’t at least four people with capital-A first names.
But perhaps the most consequential revisions happened during Alex Lilly’s (Cary Christopher) chapter of the nonlinear narrative. The young boy was the only third grader in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) class to not run away from home in the wee hours of the morning before a school day, and it’s eventually revealed that he contributed to the disappearance of his 17 fellow classmates. But this wasn’t always the case.
When Alex’s mysterious Great Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) comes to stay with him and his parents under the pretext of her deteriorating health, he returns home from school one day to find his parents in a catatonic state. Gladys is actually an ailing witch who cast a spell in order to drain them of their life force and reinvigorate herself in the process. However, Gladys’ recovery is short-lived. So she asks Alex to retrieve personal effects from his 17 classmates, and Alex, not realizing the full extent of Gladys’ forthcoming design, agrees to help based on her promise that she’ll leave him and his parents alone afterwards.
In early versions of the script, Alex actually played no part in Gladys’ second spell that brought the 17 schoolkids to his doorstep so that Gladys could try once more to fully recuperate. Instead of stealing cubby-hole box name tags from his classroom, Alex received Valentine’s Day cards from each one of his classmates. Gladys then pocketed those items in the middle of night to cast the fateful spell.
Cregger later received a note from one of his friends that suggested the idea of directly involving Alex in Gladys’ spell. Thus, having Alex snatch the name tags not only made him more active in hopefully rescuing his parents, but it also reinforced his rationale for not telling the truth to law enforcement.
“Bill Hader is a buddy of mine. We would talk about the script, and I think it was his idea. He was like, ‘You should figure out a way to implicate [Alex] so he feels implicated.’ So it was through a conversation with him that I had the idea of Alex stealing something [for Gladys],” Cregger tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a way to give him some culpability so that we could further believe that maybe he wouldn’t tell [the authorities], because he felt like he was responsible and just as guilty [as Gladys], even though we know he wasn’t. But, to a degree, he is guilty.”
Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Cregger also discusses the practical reason for why he did away with Alex’s Valentine’s Day cards, as well as the current status of his Aunt Gladys prequel.
***
Weapons receivedrave reviews and was the number-one movie in August, grossing $264 million against $38 million overall. Its script was a part of a hotly contested bidding war that may have altered a couple careers. [Editor’s Note: Jordan Peele reportedly parted ways with his managers after losing the Weapons sweepstakes.] Your follow-up, Resident Evil,also had its ownbidding war. How does it feel to be the belle of the ball right now?
(Laughs.) I’m in Prague, and I’ve been in Prague since before Weapons came out, so I don’t feel like the belle of the ball. I feel like a stranger in a strange land, and I’m so happy to be here. I get to work every day toward making a movie [Resident Evil], so it’s awesome. But I haven’t had any experiences where I walk into a restaurant and somebody says, “Hey, there’s the guy who made [Weapons].” So maybe this is the best place for me to be so that my head isn’t exploding or whatever I’m trying to say. It’s just good to be in the Czech Republic.
Writer/Director Zach Cregger on the set of Weapons.
Quantrell Colbert/Warner Bros.
Right after Weapons came out, my YouTube algorithm sent me down a rabbit hole of Newsboyz episodes, and it didn’t take long for me to see why the loss of Trevor Moore prompted you to write Weapons as a way to cope. I wasn’t privy to your Whitest KidsU’ Know collaboration. It somehow never entered my orbit. Anyway, was Trevor aware of these solo ambitions you had for yourself? Did he know you were trying to reinvent your filmmaking career? [Writer’s Note: Cregger and Moore co-directed a couple films in 2009 and 2011. Newsboyz was also a pandemic-era live stream that they co-hosted on YouTube/Twitch. They discussed the week in news and swapped entertaining stories from their lives. Their final episode took place a handful of hours before Moore’s tragic accident.]
Well, I shot Barbarian before he died, and he died while I was in the edit of Barbarian. So he knew I was making a movie, and I think he knew I always wanted to be a [solo] filmmaker. Yeah, he definitely knew that, but he didn’t know much about Barbarian. He was going to see it when it was ready, but he never got to. So I don’t really know how much he understood about what I wanted to do solo, but I don’t think that’s significant. It’s not something I talked about all the time.
The internet decoded that the platter of seven hot dogs was a nod to Trevor and the Whitest Kids sketch, “Hot Dog Timmy.” The draft of the script I read referenced hot dogs, but it didn’t say how many hot dogs were assembled. So did you come up with that specific tribute of seven hot dogs closer to filming?
Yeah, when we were putting it together, it was like, “What should be on the tray?” We then arranged the tray, and it was definitely thought out weeks in advance with the props people. So it was somewhere between the script and rolling camera.
When Josh Brolin’s character’s son, Matthew, is revealed to be Alex’s bully, I thought you were paving the way for the entire class to laugh at Alex for something Matthew instigated. Gladys would’ve then offered Alex a means of revenge without him fully understanding how extreme her intentions were.
That’s interesting.
Did you ever go down that bullying path?
No, I didn’t, but it makes a lot of sense. It just never occurred to me. That totally tracks.
In the earlier script, Gladys casts the 2:17 AM spell using Valentine’s Day cards that Alex’s classmates gave him, only he didn’t supply them to her. She just took them from him in the middle of the night.
Right.
Was the method of having him remove the name tags from the cubby-hole boxes a way to make him more active in potentially saving his family?
It was, yeah. It was also a way to give him some culpability so that we could further believe that maybe he wouldn’t tell [the authorities], because he felt like he was responsible and just as guilty [as Gladys], even though we know he wasn’t. But, to a degree, he is guilty. He probably had an inkling of an idea that whatever Gladys was going to do was probably pretty bad, and I don’t think he let himself imagine what was really coming. But, yes, it was to dirty his hands.
Cary Christopher as Alex in Zach Cregger’s Weapons
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Compared to Valentine’s Day cards, were the cubby-hole box name tags just a cleaner, more streamlined way for Alex to get personal objects to Gladys?
It felt like the montage that would be necessary for him to get one little thing from every kid would be unbelievable and boring. The Valentine’s Day cards felt like a quick cheat. I was talking to a teacher friend of mine, and I was like, “Well, how could a kid come home with something from every other kid?” And she was like, “Valentine’s Day.” And I was like, “Brilliant!” However, we were shooting in the dead of summer, and the movie would never look like February. So that’s why I was like, “I’ve got to think of something else.”
Bill Hader is a buddy of mine. We would talk about the script, and I think it was his idea. He was like, “You should figure out a way to implicate [Alex] so he feels implicated.” So it was through a conversation with him that I had the idea of Alex stealing something. And when we were scouting on location, I saw these cubby boxes that were in a real classroom. So I was like, “That would do it.”
Two of my THR colleagues broke the potential Gladys prequel story. What’s your temperature on that idea at the moment?
I had the idea for this Gladys story before Weapons came out, so I was secretly hoping Weapons would work. I was like, “If it works, I have this other really fun story to tell about Gladys.” So I was like, “Please let it be a hit,” because I didn’t want to go to the studio [about it] unless Weapons did business. So it was one of those things where I already had it, and I wasn’t just like, “How can I cash in?” I was like, “Please God, let me be able to go do this again.” So we’re talking now, and while I can’t say too much obviously, it’s real and I’m pumped. I think it’s great.
I was surprised to hear that, because, when we spoke for Barbarian, you weren’t too interested in a prequel, especially one about your antagonist Frank (Richard Brake). But I suppose Gladys’ showmanship is a bit more fun to be around.
Frank’s whole world is disgusting, and having already told a story in that world, I don’t necessarily enjoy the aspects of Barbarian that are about women in captivity. That was just more of an interesting kind of backstory and plot device. With Gladys, I feel like there’s a whole rainbow of things that Gladys gets to interact with and participate in, so they’re very different things.
You opted not to explain the meaning of Weapons during your press tour, and I don’t blame you. These are fraught times. Thus, I’m going to subject you to my own reading of the movie.
(Cregger smiles.) Okay.
To me, the movie’s most enduring image is the schoolkids chasing after the old witch, and I interpreted that as the younger generations finally turning the tables on the older generations for passing on all their trauma and imposing harmful policies/legislation time and time again.
I love it.
I’ll take the compliment.
It’s great.
You deleted a scene where Alden Ehrenreich’s character, Paul, visits the doctor after his prickly run-in with the homeless addict, James (Austin Abrams). Did you ever decide what the result of Paul’s blood test would’ve been?
Oh, great question. No, I didn’t. But that’s such a good thing to think about. I thought that the not knowing was just as damning of his character as if he did have a result. The fact that he was willing to just play Russian roulette with [Julia Garner’s Justine] and her biology [via fornication] is heavy-duty. So I didn’t think we really needed an answer. He did it anyways, and that’s pretty fucked-up.
Austin Abrams’ James in Zach Cregger’s Weapons
Warner Bros. Pictures
Austin Abrams was the one main actor who stayed on the film after its strike-related cast reshuffling. He didn’t go off and shoot something else. How much did that loyal gesture factor into him leading Resident Evil?
I didn’t reward him for his loyalty; I rewarded him for being a spectacular actor. I cast him in Resident Evil because he’s so well-suited for this part. We just had a completely amazing experience together [on Weapons], and we really connected, creatively. So when it was time to get this one going, I didn’t have to think too hard. If he wasn’t in Weapons, if he’d bailed and gone and done another movie, yeah, I probably wouldn’t have been doing [Resident Evil] with him. So I guess it’s a karmic reward, but it wasn’t like I was thinking that way.
Are you about to roll camera on Resident?
We’re going to start shooting the second week of October.
(L-R) Josh Brolin and Writer/Director Zach Cregger on the set of Weapons
Quantrell Colbert/Warner Bros.
Is the biggest screenwriting lesson from Weapons to not name four characters with the same first letter? You originally had Archer (Josh Brolin), Alex (Cary Christopher), Anthony (who became Abrams’ James) and Andrew (who became Benedict Wong’s Marcus).
(Laughs.) Yeah, I think there could have been even another. Dude, that is only evidence of how stupid I am when I’m writing. I try to turn my brain off. I try not to think. I try to just go, go, go, go. So I make idiotic mistakes like that, and that’s what happens.
Earlier, when I listed your recent achievements, I forgot to mention Companion, which counted you as a producer. Drew Hancock told me the whole story of how it was originally going to be your Barbarian follow-up until you offered him the directorial job instead. He then surprised you with his brief indecision. Were you trying to pay it forward in the same way people did for you on Barbarian?
It was a combination of things. I was seriously considering directing it, but I felt like I should do an original next. That just became clear to me. As great as that script was and as excited as I was about it, I felt like I should do an original. And I could just tell from my conversations with Drew that he had a point of view and that he understood the story at the atomic level. He’d also directed [TV] before, so I was just like, “Why not, man? I think he can do it.” He just smelled like a [movie] director.
So before I offered him that, I called all the producers and was like, “I think Drew should direct it. Do I have your blessing to broach this with him?” And everyone was down. I thought he was going to do cartwheels on the phone with me when I said it, and I was genuinely surprised by his reaction, which was like, “I don’t know. I’ve got to think about this.” And I was like, “Well, why don’t you call me back tomorrow and tell me.” (Laughs.) I was like, “Weird.”
I think it took him two days to call me back, but that’s a testimony to how thoughtful Drew is. He respected the, dare I say, enormity of the job. It is a job that requires a hundred percent of you and a hundred percent of your time for over a year, at least. And not everybody is down to be like, “Yeah, I’ll put my entire life on pause to do this thing that is going to drain me.” So I get the hesitation.
Do you see yourself creating your own banner and being a shepherd for more movies that other people direct? Do you see yourself going further down that producorial path?
That’s not a huge priority for me, only because making movies is just so demanding. I am a person where my battery dries up real fast. I like to play video games. I like to unwind. I like to have me time. That’s so precious to me right now, and the idea of producing a lot of stuff — and sapping all of that free time — is not appealing. So, no, it’s just selfish. I would rather be monastic about this and just make movies.
Decades from now, when you’re reminiscing about the making of Weapons, what day will you likely recall first?
The three days the children were ripping Gladys apart. It was just devastatingly stressful and chaotic. When I’m making a movie, I feel very in control at all times. So I felt like I was in complete control of what was on camera, except for the kids ripping apart Gladys. I felt like I was drowning, and I was like, “Just shoot!” I had two cameras going, I had kids screaming and I couldn’t tell who was shooting what. I couldn’t communicate. It was awful. We had to shoot it three times, but I think we got it. I’m really happy with it. It was just incredibly stressful, so that’s what’s seared in my brain.
*** Weapons is now available on digital ahead of its 4K UHD release on Oct. 14.
The breakout bone chilling star of the year is getting her big break — a big break that isn’t just the best Halloween costume idea this year. Weapons’s creepy but silly villain, Aunt Gladys (played by Oscar nominated actress Amy Madigan), is getting an origin story movie. Director and writer Zach Cregger confirms that he is in talks with Warner Bros. for a prequel to everyone’s favorite auntie. “It is real and I’ve been talking to Warner Bros. about it. There’s a story and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s not bullshit,” Cregger shared with Fangoria when talking about the home release of Weapons. He also felt “ready” for another installment in the same universe: “I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out.”
News of another film, whether a sequel or prequel, has been floating around since mid-August when Weapons became a hit with critics and the box office. There was a part of the film dedicated to Gladys’s origins, but it fell on the cutting room floor, THR reports. Thankfully, it’s being picked up by Warner Brothers for more. Aren’t you Glad’ys in development now?
Last month, we learned Zach Cregger had another project on his hands: Henchmanfor DC. Once again written and directed by him, the movie would star a low-level goon that moves up in the crime world after apparently taking down Batman, similar to the Batman: The Animated Series episode “The Man Who Killed Batman.”
Henchman was just a script at the time, but you can imagine Cregger would get to actually pitching it once he had some free time. Now, it sounds like we’ll be waiting a while, as he told ScreenRant he’d keep it to himself for now. His reasoning comes down to the growing amount of Batman projects, which includes The Batman Part IIand Clayface. “I love that script, but Gotham City IP is the most coveted,” he explained. “Right now, there’s a lot of people that have their own kind of flavor. It’s a very kind of crowded playing field, and my movie, I don’t think it really fits into any of that.”
Cregger assured he’s not put out by fellow creators like Matt Reeves and James Gunn. But with so many “hurdles” around Batman at the moment, he’s going to “leave [things] to the universe” before approaching Gunn and DC with Henchman. Optimistically, he called the script “a great story, I think it’s awesome. When that door opens, I’ll happily step through it.” Just maybe don’t expect it for at least two or three years.
Until then, we’ve got Weapons, which recently came to digital, and his Resident Evil movie on September 18, 2026.
Zach Cregger’s creepy Weapons is now available to watch at home, meaning folks who missed it in theaters can behold its horrors from the safety of their couch. Also, it means anyone in the midst of fashioning a Halloween costume styled after the movie’s most mysterious and memorable character can rewind and freeze-frame to get all the Aunt Gladys details just right.
Like everything in Weapons, Gladys’ looks are very carefully thought out. Her more vulnerable scenes reveal she’s a lot older than you might think—possibly even ancient—but the breakout style definitely comes through when Gladys (wonderfully played by Amy Madigan) has to make a public appearance. She’s got her red wig with the micro bangs, 1970s oversized sunglasses, a thick slash of lipstick, colorful outfits that scream “suburban eccentric,” and that all-important handbag stuffed full of sinister spell-casting tools.
Speaking to Collider, Cregger elaborated a bit on how this frightening style icon came into existence.
“She’s not based on anything I’ve experienced in real life, necessarily,” he said. “But … Gladys as an aesthetic, her aesthetic comes from Cindy Sherman and Twin Peaks and Boca Raton retirees.”
We would have guessed maybe a little Grey Gardens in there too, and perhaps The Witches, as well as hag-spolitation classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Cregger does go on to explain that Gladys, beyond her physical appearance, was influenced by aspects of his own life, something he’s previously discussed.
“Gladys, as a theme, is very autobiographical. And really, it’s about my childhood. And it’s not that there was an evil woman that came into my life, but it was more about just growing up in an alcoholic family,” he said. “And the idea of a new entity coming into your house and upending the family dynamic, and taking a safe place and turning it into a scary place, and what it does to children, and that sort of thing … But no, I never met a crazy woman with red hair.”
The busy actor, who appeared this summer in such films as Naked Gun and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, will star alongside previously confirmed castmember Austin Abrams in Sony Pictures‘ new take on the franchise. The feature hits theaters Sept. 18, 2026, and adapts the popular video game series about an elite task force battling zombies.
Cregger, who had a hit this summer with Warner Bros.’ Weapons, will helm Resident Evil from a script he is co-writing with Shay Hatten. Plot details have not yet been disclosed for the project that hails from Constantin Film.
Producers include Robert Kulzer for Constantin Film, Roy Lee for Vertigo Entertainment and Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan for PlayStation Productions. TriStar Pictures president Nicole Brown oversees the movie for the studio.
Based on the Capcom video games, the Resident Evil film franchise launched with Sony’s original 2002 feature that starred Milla Jovovich. The movie series has surpassed $1.2 billion at the global box office.
During an interview last month with The Hollywood Reporter, Hauser explained why he tends to be choosy about his projects. “I feel way too competitive and way too hungry to eat garnish and pretend it’s a meal,” the actor said about waiting for interesting roles. “I would rather hold out for the right thing. On the day, I’m just going to be all hungry, and then I’m going to look stupid, and then I’m going to feel awkward.”
Two teenage boys were arrested Thursday after Northwood High School was placed on lockdown for reports of a gun on campus.
Two teenage boys were arrested Thursday after Northwood High School was placed on lockdown for reports of a gun on campus.
In a news release, Montgomery County police said they responded to the high school in the 11200 block of Georgetown Road around 11 a.m. During that time, the school was placed on “secure” status, meaning there are “external threats such as police activity near the school.”
Police found the first reports to be “unfounded” and cleared the scene.
While police were still on school grounds, a second report of a gun on campus came around 12:20 p.m. At that time, the high school was placed on a full lockdown.
Police said school administrators and community engagement officers found two 15-year-old students in a room. A gun magazine, a BB gun and a live 9 mm round were also discovered.
One of the students was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon on school grounds. Both students were charged with disruption of school operations.
The two teens were released from custody to their guardians, police said.
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BOSTON — A federal judge has upheld the state’s ban on the sale of certain types of handguns following a legal challenge by gun rights groups that vow to repeal the ruling.
In a decision issued Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper rejected claims in a lawsuit filed by the owners of Gunrunners LLC and the Delaware-based Firearms Policy Coalition alleging that the restrictions violate the Second Amendment and are “inconsistent” with the nation’s history of firearm regulation.
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Zach Cregger’s Weapons is still crushing at the box office, but apparently, it’s time for a little boost. So, after months and months of keeping the character a secret, New Line has finally started uploading clips of Aunt Gladys, played by Amy Madigan. In fact, it actually posted one of her best and most revealing scenes in full.
We’re guessing most people who want to see Weapons probably already have, but just in case you still plan on checking it out, we’ll give a final spoiler warning.
The scene in question isn’t from the end of the movie, unfortunately. No, those are still only living in theaters (and probably via pirated clips on TikTok.) No, this is Gladys’ second scene, which also happens to be the one where we finally start to see the depth of her evil. It’s when she visits Marcus (Benedict Wong) and his husband just as they’re about to sit down for an afternoon of hot dogs and cookies. Gladys comes in, makes some very weird requests, and, well, now you can watch it again.
Unfortunately, the clip is located on X (ugh, we know) and is age-restricted so embedding won’t work. But if you click right here, you can log in and watch the scene the New Line social person cleverly calls “Do you have a bowl of water?” That request still creeps me out too. “A bowl of water.”
When you first meet Gladys, in the scene teased here, there’s obviously a lot of unease. We’ve seen her pop up a few times earlier in the movie, but never long enough to understand who or what she is. So, that first scene at the school is creepy but the second scene in the house is just completely terrifying. Fortunately, the clip cuts before things get really, really gross with all the headbutting, but it’s in this moment we know Gladys took those kids.
In a box office twist, a film from the theatrical-averse Netflix appears to be No. 1 on North American charts. “Kpop Demon Hunters,” a singalong version of the hit animated musical, is estimated to have earned $18 million to $20 million on Saturday and Sunday.
Netflix isn’t reporting grosses, but projections from rival studios and exhibitors would put ticket sales for “Kpop Demon Hunters” ahead of those for “Weapons,” which collected a strong $15.6 million from 3,631 North American theaters in its third weekend of release.
“Kpop Demon Hunters” playing on 1,700 screens (that’s nearly double the theater count for the streamer’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” in 2022) and roughly 1,150 of those showings were reportedly sold out, according to knowledgable sources. That “Kpop Demon Hunters,” a fantasy adventure about a Kpop girl group who protects the world from demons with their music, is available on the big screen at all is rare — and not just because it’s backed by Netflix, which doesn’t prioritize theatrical. It’s unusual because “Kpop Demon Hunters” isn’t new; the movie debuted on Netflix about two months ago. But in the time since, it has become the second-most watched film ever on the platform while three of the film’s original tunes — “Golden,” “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” — are currently in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Though it’s a boon for theaters during a painfully slow weekend, that’s not why Netflix brought “Kpop Demon Hunters” to multiplexes. The streaming behemoth is hoping that excitement will drive people back to the platform for re-watches or the inevitable sequel.
“There is no CinemaScore, but audiences, particularly kids, love this movie. That’s why it’s here,” says analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
Although “Weapons” didn’t finish in first place as expected, the scary movie has achieved sleeper hit status with $115.9 million domestically and $199 million globally. The $38 million-budgeted film is the latest theatrical hit for director Zach Cregger, whose last film “Barbarian” became a quiet success for Disney in 2022 with $45 million. And it’s the sixth consecutive hit for Warner Bros. following “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners,” “Final Destination Bloodlines,” “F1: The Movie” (which the studio distributed for Apple) and “Superman.”
Right now the overall box office is 5.1% ahead of last year — a margin that has been shrinking over the past few weeks. In early July, for example, revenues were 16% ahead of 2024.
This weekend’s only new nationwide release, Ethan Coen’s dark comedy “Honey, Don’t,” landed at No. 8 with a soft $3 million from 1,317 venues. Opening weekend crowds were largely female (56%) female and nearly 70% over the age of 25. Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans and Charlie Day star in the film about a small-town private investigator who delves into a series of strange deaths that are tied to a mysterious church. “Honey, Don’t” is the second installment in what Coen calls a “lesbian B-movie trilogy” following 2024’s “Drive Away Dolls.” That film, which also starred Qualley and also garnered mixed reviews, failed to connect at the box office with $2.4 million in its debut and under $8 million globally by the end of its run.
Elsewhere, A24 released an English version of China’s blockbuster smash “Ne Zha II,” but excitement didn’t translate to the States. The film grossed a tepid $1.5 million from 2,228 theaters, marking one of the worst starts this year for a movie in wide release. Of course, “Ne Zha II” doesn’t exactly need the North American coinage; the sequel has already shattered all kinds of box office records in the rest of the world with $2.1 billion to date.
As the summer season grinds to a near halt, several holdover titles rounded out the top five.
Though the actual numbers for “Kpop Demon Hunters” are unclear, Disney’s “Freakier Friday” likely placed third with $9.1 million in its third weekend, a scant 36% drop from the prior weekend. The PG sequel, reuniting Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis as mother and daughter who swap places, has earned $70 million in North America and $113 million worldwide to date. Those ticket sales are trailing the 2003 original, “Freaky Friday,” which earned $160 million (not adjusted for inflation) but it’s a promising turnout for a theatrical comedy in the current box office landscape.
Disney’s Marvel adventure “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” remained in fourth with $5.9 million in its fifth weekend of release. After a promising $117 million bow, “Fantastic Four” didn’t have as much staying power as expected with ticket sales $257 million in North America and $490 million worldwide. The movie is far outselling this year’s prior Marvel entries, February’s “Captain America: Brave New World” ($415 million globally) and May’s “Thunderbolts” ($382 million globally). But it’s not quite the return to box office form that many were predicting for the once-untouchable Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“The Bad Guys 2” again took fifth place with $5.1 million in its fourth frame. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s heist comedy has generated $66 million domestically and $149 million globally. By comparison, 2022’s original “Bad Guys” was a slow-and-steady hit with $250 million over the course of its entire run.
Weapons, directed by Zach Cregger and starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and others, started week 3 on an exceptional note, grossing USD 4.7 million. The movie released in 185 more theatres than it was already performing in, and this is thanks to its incredible word of mouth. The drop is under 40 percent from last Friday, indicating an exceptional hold. Post-Covid, only Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Sinners had a better 3rd Friday, but both are much bigger movies, budget-wise.
Weapons Grosses An Exceptional USD 4.7 Million On 3rd Friday In US-Canada; Heads For A USD 17 Million Weekend
With this performance, Weapons is now headed for a stellar USD 17 million third weekend, pushing its domestic total to an impressive USD 118 million by the end of Sunday. As of Friday, its cumulative gross stands at USD 105 million, continuing its strong run as one of the biggest sleeper hits of the year.
Weapons Is Showing Excellent Late Summer Legs, As Things Gradually Begin To Slow Down
The film’s resilience at the box office comes despite a crowded late-summer release slate, further highlighting the film’s strong word of mouth and audience connect. Its third Friday gross places it among the top performers in recent memory for original, mid-budget horror-thrillers, a category that has struggled to find consistent success in the post-pandemic theatrical landscape.
Weapons Heads For A Lifetime In The North Of USD 150 Million In North America
Weapons continues to outperform projections, and its box office trend suggests that the film could push toward the USD 150 million mark domestically if it maintains momentum through Labor Day weekend and beyond. For director Zach Cregger, who previously found success with the horror sleeper Barbarian, Weapons marks another major milestone, solidifying his position as one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working today.
With Julia Garner and Josh Brolin leading a critically praised ensemble, and with audiences clearly turning out in strong numbers well into its third week, Weapons is fast becoming one of 2025’s biggest box office surprises.
Weapons In Theatres
Weapons plays in theatres now. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
