Pedro Pascal to Star in Weapons, Next Film From Barbarian Director Zach Cregger

It’s safe to say that there isn’t a male actor alive who’s had a more incredible public spotlight than Pedro Pascal in the last couple years, and the beloved Chilean performer just signed on to yet another high-profile project, this one a film that will draw quite a bit of attention from genre fans in particular: Zach Cregger’s upcoming Weapons.

Cregger is of course the director of 2022’s well-received Barbarian, a twisty horror thriller that both critics and audiences loved for its unpredictable nature and shifting character perspectives. The 42-year-old filmmaker was for years primarily known as a founding member of raunchy sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know, before the overnight success of Barbarian–and quite a lot of praise for his directorial skills–made him a hot commodity in Hollywood. He’s likely to be referring to Weapons as his sophomore feature, conveniently ignoring 2009’s Miss March, a lewd, American Pie-style sex comedy he co-directed with fellow Whitest Kids U’ Know performer Trevor Moore, who passed away in 2021. Unsurprisingly, Miss March doesn’t exactly get referenced by Cregger on a regular basis these days–not when he’s styling himself as the next Ari Aster or Robert Eggers.

Weapons sounds suitably ambitious and over the top, described by The Hollywood Reporter as “an interrelated, multistory horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia, the 1999 actor-crammed showcase from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.” Yeah, that certainly sounds like Cregger swinging for the fences in an Aster-like way. New Line is producing the feature, with a script from Cregger, likely shooting in the fall of 2023.

Pascal, meanwhile, would be playing a lead role in Weapons, but there aren’t really any additional details available on how he fits into this story. He’s sure to bring much more attention and buzz to the project, however, riding high after a massively popular starring turn on HBO’s The Last of Us, not to mention the marketing behemoth that is The Mandalorian on Disney+, even if that series has seen better days at this point. Pedro Pascal is simply everywhere right now, something we never could have expected when he was simply stealing scenes on Game of Thrones years ago.

It will likely be a while before we hear more details on Weapons, unless there are some other major casting notes to announce, but we’ll bring you everything we’ve got on Zach Cregger’s next film as it arrives.