Zach Cregger Wants ‘Weapons’ Prequel About Gladys To “Stand On Its Own”

With one of the biggest horror movies of the year, Zach Cregger wants his upcoming prequel to Weapons to be its own beast.

The writer/director recently teased the spin-off about the mysterious Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), which he confirmed last month is in development, admitting he’s considered whether unpacking the villain’s origin story would ruin the movie’s mystique.

“It’s crossed my mind,” Cregger told TheWrap after Gladys was originally set for her own chapter in the first film. “But I think that the Gladys story is such an interesting story that I think it’s going to feel very separate and stand on its own two feet, and I don’t think it’s going to diminish Weapons.”

In Weapons, all but one child in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class goes missing when they each mysteriously wake up and run off into the night at exactly 2:17am. The truth of what happened to the kids unravels through the perspectives of multiple characters, portrayed by Madigan, Josh Brolin, Austin Abrams, Cary Cristopher and Benedict Wong.

Following the overwhelming fan response to Aunt Gladys, Cregger added, “The thrill of my life to see Amy and what’s been going on with all of this has been so great. I can only hope that there’s a lot of Halloween Gladyses out there.”

After Deadline confirmed in August that New Line is in early talks for a prequel to Weapons, Cregger said he “was ready” for the origin story. “I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out,” he said.