Horror fans have been clamouring for some details for Barbarian director Zack Cregger's mysterious second feature, Weapons, and we finally have some idea of what to expect following last night's teaser trailer screening at CinemaCon.
Up until now, the only information we've been given about the movie is that it was developed as “a multi and inter-related story horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia, the 1999 actor-crammed showcase from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.”
Per Variety, the movie stars The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Julia Garner as an elementary school teacher who arrives at work one morning to discover that every single member of her class is missing. The trailer continues with a child's voiceover telling us that, "Mrs. Gandy’s room was totally empty. Because the night before, at 2.17 am, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs and into the dark, and they never came back."
Variety writes, "We can’t stress how upsetting some of this footage was – featuring children sleepwalking giddily as if possessed, running into the pitch dark. The final moments of the trailer revealed a terrifying figure hiding deep in the woods, one that looked overwhelmingly like a female clown."
There's still a lot we don't know about Weapons, and it sounds like even those in attendance have decided not to disclose everything revealed in the trailer.
As part of the presentation, New Line Cinema boss Richard Brener described the film as "intriguing and unpredictable, with a nice helping of batshit insane", while Cregger said the project was "a movie that unravels and reinvents itself as it goes."
Barbarian proved to be a huge hit with a $45 million worldwide gross, establishing Cregger as one of the most in-demand young directors in Hollywood and earning him a juicy deal with the studio. He also appeared during Sony’s presentation on Monday to tease his new Resident Evil movie, which he promised would be very faithful to the original game in the classic survival horror series.
Hopefully, we'll have some more details to share soon. This trailer is unlikely to be released online, but we should see an official teaser over the next few weeks.
Weapons has been rated “R” for: “Strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use.”
The movie also stars Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong and June Diane Raphael, and is set to open in theaters August 8 via New Line Cinema.