- 6 months ago
From mysterious floating guns to unexpected casting changes, the making of "Weapons" is filled with fascinating secrets! Join us as we explore the bizarre behind-the-scenes stories from Zach Cregger's horror epic. Did you know it was inspired by "Magnolia" and real-life tragedies? Or that Jordan Peele reportedly fired people over losing the bidding war for this script?
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00:00This is a true story.
00:01Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at fascinating facts about Zach Kreger's weapons.
00:06We'll need to touch upon a few spoilers, but we'll avoid talking about the ending.
00:11We have a lot of emotional parents here.
00:15Number 10. Magnolia Parallels.
00:18Weapons is told from multiple perspectives, echoing two of Zach Kreger's creative inspirations.
00:23I don't understand at all.
00:25One was Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning episodic novel A Visit from the Goon Squad.
00:30The other was Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, which is also an ensemble piece with interconnecting stories about people who are emotionally lost.
00:38I have a situation, a situation that's just come up that's really pretty serious, and I don't know who to talk to or what I should do,
00:46but maybe you could put me in touch with somebody if I explain myself.
00:49While Magnolia isn't a horror film, it is an epic, which Kreger aimed to produce.
00:54Kreger admired how Magnolia was, quote,
00:56"...totally proud to be an epic movie and to be a little bit messy."
01:00And I cheated on her over and over and over again.
01:08Because I wanted her to be a man, and I didn't want her to be a woman, you know.
01:15He views weapons as, quote,
01:17"...an ancestor to Magnolia," which gave him license to, quote,
01:21"...think differently while writing it."
01:22Alden Ehrenreich's character is a direct homage to John C. Reilly,
01:26who similarly played a bumbling cop with a mustache in Magnolia.
01:29How much did you pay me for my health?
01:32I think it's a little more complicated than that, little man.
01:34Number 9. Fungi Foreshadowing
01:36Before Aunt Gladys pays a visit, Marcus and his husband sit down to a scrumptious hot dog supper
01:46that'll sadly go uneaten.
01:47We're making hot dogs.
01:49Hot dogs?
01:50The two are also watching a documentary exploring Cordyceps fungus,
01:54which you might have learned about through The Last of Us.
01:56Yes, that's the usual response. Fungi seem harmless enough?
02:01Many species know otherwise, because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control.
02:08Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, also known as zombie ant fungus,
02:11causes the insect to lose control of their muscles.
02:14It forces her to clamp down in a death bite.
02:18Although it manipulates their movements, the fungus doesn't control their brain, per se,
02:23suggesting that the ants are still aware of their surroundings.
02:26This mirrors what happens to Marcus, as he's suddenly turned into a puppet parasite.
02:31It's unclear if Marcus is at all conscious while under this spell.
02:35If he is, his actions are even more devastating, with his final destination providing a release.
02:41Number 8. Funny Moments Were Cut
02:43Despite the grim subject matter, the film's wild sense of humor caught numerous viewers off guard.
02:48Of course, it's less surprising knowing that Zack Kreger previously made Barbarian
02:58and was a co-founder of The Whitest Kids You Know.
03:00I want you to do it again. I want you to do it, uh, happier and with your mouth open.
03:08What?
03:08Yeah, happier and with your mouth open, okay?
03:11While Kreger sought to blend genres, he understood that the comedy shouldn't overshadow the horror,
03:16especially if certain comedic moments didn't land the way he expected.
03:19Kreger said, quote,
03:20There's a lot of jokes that didn't make it into the movie that I thought were gonna be so funny.
03:24And then we did a test screening and nobody laughed and I'm like,
03:27okay, it's gotta go.
03:29According to Kreger, there aren't many deleted scenes,
03:32just a few moments that slowed the pacing down and weren't necessary.
03:35Number 7. The Significance of 2.17
03:39When the clock struck 2.17 a.m., 17 children got out of bed, left their homes and disappeared.
03:46And they never came back.
03:50Although Kreger claims 2.17 is a random number,
03:53there is an eerie parallel to the New Testament.
03:56One of the missing children is named Matthew.
03:58In the Gospel of Matthew, the 17th verse in the second chapter discusses the massacre of the innocents.
04:04Kill me.
04:05Where did you go?
04:06While not exactly the same, a massacre involving innocents does occur.
04:10In addition to Matthew 2.17, the number could be a reference to The Shining,
04:14which Kreger cited as one of his inspirations.
04:17Maybe it was about Danny.
04:23Maybe it was about him.
04:25Although changed to Room 237 for Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation,
04:29true Shining fans know the original number in Stephen King's novel was 2.17.
04:33This can't be a coincidence, right?
04:36Number 6. Amy Madigan was cast on the spot.
04:39Amy Madigan might have seemed like an unusual choice to play Aunt Gladys,
04:43but this was among the easiest roles to cast.
04:45Kreger met Madigan for the first time over lunch.
04:55On his way to the meeting,
04:57Kreger told himself not to offer her the role up front.
05:00Kreger thankfully went against his initial judgment,
05:02telling her between breadsticks and the main course,
05:04Although much about Gladys remains a mystery,
05:10Kreger presented Madigan with two backstories for the character.
05:17In one,
05:18Gladys is an ill woman who turns to dark magic for self-preservation.
05:22In the other,
05:23she's a creature disguising herself as human.
05:25Kreger asked Madigan to choose between these origin stories.
05:29She didn't tell him which, however.
05:30Are you watching?
05:33Number 5.
05:34Zach Kreger didn't start with an ending.
05:37Weapons draws us in with a haunting question,
05:39keeping us guessing every step of the way.
05:41The truth is that I want an answer
05:43just as bad as all of you.
05:47Just as we didn't know where the story is going,
05:49neither did Kreger.
05:50I like to just kind of write and not know anything.
05:52When Kreger began writing,
05:54he knew the story would revolve around a classroom of children
05:56who ran away in the middle of the night.
05:58He had no idea where the kids went, however.
06:01Kreger admits that he's written his fair share of scripts
06:03that started with a gripping hook,
06:05but he couldn't figure out how to stick the landing.
06:07Come on, what am I looking at?
06:10With weapons,
06:11the answer came to him about halfway through writing.
06:14Barbarian went through a similar evolution.
06:16While Kreger had the setup figured out,
06:18it wasn't until later in the creative process
06:20that the second act twist materialized.
06:23Is someone staying here at the moment?
06:25I don't think so.
06:27Well, someone's here.
06:28Number four.
06:29Jordan Peele supposedly fired people over it.
06:32After the success of Barbarian,
06:33studios were eager to pick up Kreger's next project.
06:37New Line Cinema and parent company Warner Brothers
06:39emerged victorious from the bidding war.
06:41Although Netflix offered more money up front,
06:43New Line guaranteed a theatrical release.
06:46Plus, New Line still made a lucrative offer,
06:48entailing a $38 million budget
06:50with $10 million going to Kreger.
06:52Weapons also caught the eye of Jordan Peele,
06:55whose Monkey Pop Productions
06:56currently has an exclusive agreement with Universal,
06:59which reportedly offered $7 million less
07:02than what New Line was willing to pay.
07:04And do you know why?
07:06It wasn't long after this
07:08that Peele cut ties with his managers,
07:10Peter Principato and Joel Zadak.
07:12Principato also manages Kreger,
07:14feeding into the rumor that Peele was, quote,
07:16pissed about losing to New Line.
07:18I think it's best if you keep some distance from this place.
07:21Number three, Tragic Inspirations.
07:23Weapons explore some disturbing territory,
07:26especially considering several real-world inspirations.
07:29The distinct way the children run from their houses
07:32mimics Phan Thi Kim Phuc,
07:33aka the napalm girl from the historic photo
07:36taken during the Vietnam War.
07:37Matthew, where are you?
07:39Other ideas stemmed from Kreger's experiences.
07:42Kreger, whose father died from cirrhosis,
07:44knows what it's like to live with a parent
07:46who has a substance use disorder.
07:48This made the final act, quote,
07:49autobiographical,
07:50as a foreign entity infects Alex's home,
07:53suddenly making him the caregiver to his parents.
07:56It's much more about my own autobiographical stuff
07:59than looking outward.
08:00It's a looking inward movie.
08:02The film's genesis also derived
08:03from the loss of Kreger's friend Trevor Moore,
08:05a fellow Whitest Kids You Know alumnus.
08:08While Kreger doesn't view weapons
08:10as a meditation on grief,
08:11writing the script was his way of coping.
08:14Where do you see that I don't?
08:15Number two, gun in the sky meaning,
08:18or lack thereof.
08:19Weapons leave several questions up in the air,
08:22one quite literally.
08:23We're talking about 17 kids in one classroom.
08:27During a surreal sequence,
08:29Josh Brolin's archer envisions a giant gun
08:31floating above a house.
08:32To Kreger,
08:33this is one of the most important images in the film.
08:36As such, you would think Kreger would have
08:38a long-winded explanation
08:39about the assault weapon's purpose.
08:41I've never seen anything like that.
08:43Speaking with variety, though,
08:44Kreger revealed that part of what he loves
08:46about this scene
08:47is that he doesn't understand it himself.
08:49While Kreger has a few ideas
08:50of what the gun might represent,
08:52he doesn't have, quote,
08:53the right answer.
08:54Kreger seems content
08:55letting viewers draw their conclusions.
08:57Some might argue the film
08:58is a metaphor for gun violence in suburbia,
09:01although, as we see,
09:02firearms aren't the only deadly weapons.
09:04The message is loud and clear.
09:06I'm the problem.
09:07Got it.
09:08You know what?
09:08I think that's the first honest thing
09:10I've heard you say.
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09:26Number one.
09:28It almost had a completely different cast.
09:30As well-assembled as the cast here is,
09:32Kreger originally had several other actors lined up.
09:36I just want to say...
09:38The initial cast included
09:39Pedro Pascal as Archer,
09:41Renata Reinsva as Justine,
09:43Tom Burke as Paul,
09:44and Brian Tyree Henry as Marcus.
09:46Then the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes hit,
09:49shaking up some schedules.
09:51Help me!
09:51Please!
09:52By the time the strikes were resolved,
09:54Kreger managed to retain a few actors
09:56like Austin Abrams and June Diane Raphael.
09:58The principal players had to be recast, though,
10:00most notably Pascal,
10:02who landed the lead
10:03in the Fantastic Four First Steps.
10:05Get us out of here, Ben!
10:07Hold on!
10:08Ironically,
10:09that film also starred Julia Garner,
10:11who still found time
10:12to substitute Reinsva as Justine.
10:14Meanwhile,
10:15Josh Brolin took over for Pascal,
10:17Alden Ehrenreich replaced Burke,
10:18and Benedict Wong filled in for Henry.
10:24Do you have any interesting facts about weapons?
10:26Let us know in the comments.
10:27This is where the story really starts.
10:32In the comments,
10:33we have a new record,
10:35which of the name of the USBs
10:36are held Nejvari.
10:40$2 billion.
10:41$"...
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