The Goonies star Josh Brolin is reportedly in negotiations to take the title role vacated by Pedro Pascal in Cregger’s ‘multi-story horror epic’.
Last year, we saw a furious bidding war between several studios vying to secure Weapons, Zach Cregger’s next film. Following the breakout success of 2022’s Barbarian, there was plenty of interest in Cregger’s follow-up project. That’s partly because the last couple of years have seen some big moves in the horror space, with each studio looking to secure popular filmmakers to work in a genre that continues to flourish, even as other types of films face a less certain future.
In the end, New Line Cinema secured Cregger’s services and it seems like the filmmaker is getting carte blanche to make whatever he wants to, with Weapons being described as a ‘multi-story horror epic’ in the expansive style of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Like Magnolia, Weapons has that ambitious feel to it, the kind of exciting ‘big swing’ project that gives a filmmaker creative freedom to do as they will.
Pedro Pascal exited the project back in January having being attached since last summer. Pascal is also signed up for a second season of The Last Of Us, not to mention Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four, and strikes-related reshuffling meant that something had to give. However, The Hollywood Reporter is stating that none other than Josh Brolin is now in talks to take up the role vacated by Pascal.
While we were very much looking forward to seeing Pascal in the film, Brolin replacing him is an exciting prospect. We haven’t seen the actor do much in the way of horror before, and he brings a degree of prestige to a project that seems fitting given its seemingly grandiose ambitions. We know that Rooney Mara is also set to feature, but we haven’t heard much else in the way of casting given that this sounds like an ensemble-driven film. With shooting set to get underway this summer, we’d expect to hear more names attached to the project in the next couple of months. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
