Last night, April 29, 2025, I was winding down after a long day when I saw the news that sent a shiver down my spine: New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. finally released the first full trailer for Weapons, the new horror epic from Zach Cregger, the genius behind Barbarian. I’ve been a fan of Cregger ever since I watched Barbarian with my roommate back in 2022—we were both so freaked out by that basement scene that we slept with the lights on for a week. So, when I heard about Weapons, I was already counting down the days. Now that the trailer’s out, I’m completely hooked, and I can’t wait to see this film when it hits theaters on August 8. Let me break down why this trailer has me so captivated and what it tells us about Cregger’s next big project.
A Haunting Mystery in Maybrook
The trailer for Weapons pulls you right into the eerie small town of Maybrook, where something seriously unsettling is going down. At exactly 2:17 a.m., 17 kids from the same class wake up, get out of bed, walk downstairs, and vanish into the night—leaving their families and the entire community in a panic. The footage shows security cameras capturing these kids sprinting out of their homes, arms outstretched, like they’re being drawn into the darkness. It gave me flashbacks to the time I watched The Leftovers with my sister—we were obsessed with the mystery of the sudden disappearances, and Weapons seems to be tapping into that same kind of haunting, unexplainable dread.
Julia Garner stars as Mrs. Gandy, the teacher whose classroom is suddenly empty, and you can feel the weight of suspicion falling on her. Josh Brolin plays a grieving father named Archer Graff, and there’s a moment in the trailer where he’s at a community meeting, yelling for answers about his missing son, Matthew. “Those kids walked out of those homes—no one pulled them out, no one forced them,” a voiceover says, and it’s chilling to think about what could make a group of children just… leave like that. Cregger has teased that this mystery is only the beginning, telling Entertainment Weekly that the film will “fork and change and reinvent” itself, diving into “way crazier” territory by the midpoint. If Barbarian taught me anything, it’s that Cregger knows how to take a story to unexpected places, and I’m already bracing myself for what’s coming.
A Cast That’s Got Me Hyped
The trailer also gave me a glimpse of the incredible cast, and I’m already obsessed. Julia Garner looks like she’s carrying the emotional weight of the town on her shoulders—I’ve loved her ever since I saw her in Ozark a few years back, binge-watching it with my mom during a rainy weekend. Josh Brolin brings a raw intensity as the desperate dad, and I can still hear his voice from when I watched Dune with my brother, marveling at how he stole every scene. The cast also includes Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams, and Cary Christopher, and I’m curious to see how their stories will intertwine in what’s been described as a “multi-story horror epic” inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Cregger even threw in a subtle nod to Magnolia—Alden Ehrenreich’s character has a mustache that echoes John C. Reilly’s look in that film, according to World of Reel. I love little details like that; they make me feel like I’m in on the filmmaker’s vision.
What’s really got me intrigued is how personal this project seems to be for Cregger. He told Entertainment Weekly that parts of Weapons are “legitimately autobiographical,” which makes me wonder what kind of real-life experiences he’s drawing from. As someone who’s always been fascinated by horror that feels grounded in real emotion—I cried watching Hereditary because it reminded me of my own family tensions—I’m eager to see how Cregger weaves his personal story into this nightmare.
Cregger’s Signature Style Shines Through
If you’ve seen Barbarian, you know Cregger has a knack for building tension and then flipping the script in ways you never see coming. The Weapons trailer has that same unsettling vibe, with a slow burn of dread that makes my stomach twist. There’s a moment where the kids’ disappearance is narrated by a little girl’s voice, and it’s so innocent yet ominous that it reminded me of how I felt watching The Babadook alone late at night—jumping at every creak in my apartment. Cregger has said the film will unravel and reinvent itself as it goes, and the trailer hints at that with glimpses of supernatural elements, like apparitions of the missing kids with hollow eyes and creepy smiles, as described in earlier CinemaCon footage reported by Fangoria. I’m not squeamish, but the trailer’s mention of “bile vomiting and face stabbing” on AV Club has me a little nervous—I might need to bring a friend to the theater for this one!
The trailer’s visuals are stunning too, thanks to cinematographer Larkin Seiple and production designer Tom Hammock. The music, composed by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, and Cregger himself, adds to the eerie atmosphere—I’m already anticipating how it’ll amplify the scares on the big screen. Warner Bros. even launched a teaser site for the film, suggesting it might take place in the same universe as Barbarian, according to Dark Horizons. I’m not sure if that’s a real connection or just clever marketing, but it’s got me theorizing about what kind of twisted world Cregger is building.
A Big Moment for Horror—and for Cregger
This trailer comes at a time when horror is having a major moment, and Cregger is right at the forefront. After Barbarian became a cult hit in 2022, grossing over $45 million worldwide on a tiny budget, Cregger’s name became synonymous with bold, original horror. Weapons was the subject of a fierce bidding war in 2023, with New Line Cinema winning the rights for an eight-figure sum and giving Cregger final cut privileges, a theatrical release, and a backend deal—terms that Deadline called unprecedented, comparing them to M. Night Shyamalan’s deals after The Sixth Sense. That kind of confidence from a studio speaks volumes, and the fact that they moved the release date up from January 2026 to August 8, 2025, shows how much faith they have in this film.
I can’t help but think about how Cregger’s journey mirrors the rise of other comedians-turned-horror-directors, like Jordan Peele with Get Out. I remember watching Get Out with my college friends and being amazed at how Peele used humor to make the horror hit even harder—it’s one of the reasons I love this trend of fresh voices in the genre. Cregger got his start in comedy with The Whitest Kids U’Know, and seeing him evolve into a horror maestro feels so inspiring. He’s even got more projects lined up, like a Resident Evil reboot for Sony, which Collider says is set for 2026 and might star Austin Abrams from Weapons. I’m already imagining what kind of scares he’ll bring to that iconic franchise.
Why This Trailer Hits Close to Home
On a personal note, the trailer for Weapons really resonates with me because of its focus on community and loss. Growing up in a small town, I remember how tight-knit everyone was—when something happened to one family, we all felt it. The idea of an entire class of kids disappearing overnight is the kind of nightmare that would unravel a place like that, and the trailer captures that collective fear so well. It reminds me of a time when a kid in my neighborhood went missing for a few hours—thankfully, he was found safe, but I’ll never forget the panic that gripped everyone until he was back. I can only imagine how much worse it would be in Maybrook, and I’m already invested in these characters’ search for answers.
The supernatural elements also hit a nerve. I’ve always been fascinated by stories of witchcraft and the unknown—my grandma used to tell me tales about strange things happening in her village, like lights in the woods that couldn’t be explained. The trailer’s hints of “witchcraft, religious abuse, and generational trauma,” as Collider described, make me think Cregger is diving into those kinds of mysteries, and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
Counting Down to August 8
The first trailer for Weapons has me on edge in the best way possible. It’s a chilling mix of mystery, horror, and raw emotion, with a cast that’s already stealing my heart and a director who knows how to keep me guessing. August 8 can’t come soon enough—I’m already planning to see it in IMAX, as Warner Bros. announced it’ll be released in that format alongside standard theaters. This film feels like it’s going to be a game-changer for horror, and I’m so excited to experience it on the big screen, hopefully with a packed theater of people who are just as on edge as I am. What do you think about the Weapons trailer? Are you as hyped as I am? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
