With just two films, Zach Cregger has already established himself as one of the most inventive (and demented) minds working in studio horror right now. His first film, Barbarian, sold itself under the radar as a familiar enough thriller about a double-booking at an Airbnb with a maybe-possible murderer, only to win critics and audiences over with a literal descent into a much stranger and more horrific nightmare with a timely critique of violent misogyny in its differing forms. His follow-up, last year’s Weapons, was comparatively a more enigmatic, structurally complex mystery, centered around a missing class of elementary school students and the varying perspectives of the community left behind in their wake – it was a massive success for Warner Bros. and won Amy Madigan the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
After releasing two highly regarded movies back to back, Cregger shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. He’s already releasing a greatly anticipated reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise in September of this year, and he’s also re-teaming with Warner Bros. and New Line to co-write a prequel to Weapons, focused on Madigan’s sinister and inexplicable Aunt Gladys. One would think he’d have his hands full, but now he’s added another project to his plate, one in partnership with a Hollywood legend.
