- If there’s one thing the internet can agree on this week, it’s that the first trailer for Zach Cregger’s Weapons is brimming with cinematic promise.
- The horror film centres on the mysterious disappearance of 17 schoolchildren all from the same class at precisely 2:17 AM; Julia Garner portrays the kids’ teacher and key suspect Justine Gandy.
- Weapons release date: August 17th, 2025 here in Australia.
No, this isn’t clickbait. We genuinely felt shivers run up our spine from a preview we’d wrongly assumed was for a school shooting drama.
Once upon a time, director Zach Cregger was mostly known for being an alum from comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know. But in the wake of his universally acclaimed Barbarian, he’s now shifted from surprising genre talent to verifiably on-the-radar and in-demand.
RELATED: Dwayne Johnson Looks Virtually Unrecognisable In A24’s MMA Drama ‘The Smashing Machine’
Point of fact, his spec script for Weapons alone was the subject of a multi-million-dollar bidding war so frenzied that when Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions lost the auction to New Line Cinema, the Get Out filmmaker fired his longtime managers (ostensibly out of professional frustration).
In other words, even prior to the chilling trailer, Hollywood smelled a winner. But Cregger certainly has his work cut out for himself if he hopes to topple Ryan Coogler’s Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan as the horror-based cultural juggernaut of the year.
Not that it’s really worth reading our rundown of the plot when you can just watch the masterfully-edited teaser above, but here goes nothing: Weapons follows multiple intersecting stories tied to the unexplained disappearance of 17 schoolkids at exactly 2:17 AM in Maybrook, Florida.
What’s even more intriguing about the missing children is that they’re all from the classroom of teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner). Naturally, blame is almost immediately laid upon Ms Gandy. Though it soon spirals far beyond the ire of desperate parents like Archer Graff (Josh Brolin; originally to be played by relentless franchise collector and Garner’s Fantastic Four co-star Pedro Pascal).
RELATED: Could This Black Comedy Be The Greatest Leonardo DiCaprio Film In Years?
The cast also features Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, June Diane Raphael, and plenty more.
The cinematography has been accomplished by Larkin Seiple of Swiss Army Man, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Wolfs fame.
Although it was initially slated for January 2026, thanks to overwhelmingly positive test screenings, Weapons now has an expedited release date of August 17th, 2025 (obviously with every expectation it’ll become a summer blockbuster) – check out the trailer above.
