Last year, when everyone became intrigued by the mysterious trailer for Weapons, we had no idea that a new horror icon was waiting in the wings with Aunt Gladys, played by the great Amy Madigan. Who even knew that Weapons would become one of the great witch-themed horror movies ever? Now, via Deadline, we have our first official news in a minute on the upcoming Weapons prequel focusing on Aunt Gladys, simply titled Gladys. They confirm Weapons director Zach Cregger and Zach Shields are co-writing the script for Warner Bros/New Line. Why have one Zach when you can have two?
Not only did Amy Madigan steal the show in Weapons, but she also recently received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for the role. A very rare feat achieved by a horror film. It became clear that Aunt Gladys was a new horror icon after Weapons became a surprise hit. She’s sure to be the subject of Halloween costumes and merchandise for years to come. So some kind of prequel to Weapons was inevitable. Weapons didn’t really give us any backstory for the character, which added to the intrigue around her.
Zach Shields most recently worked on the screenplays for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for Warner Bros. and Legendary. Before that, he co‑wrote Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Krampus for Universal with Michael Dougherty. According to IMDB, he also wrote a treatment for the long-in-gestation sequel to Trick ‘r Treat. So this is someone with a true love for genre and monsters. It’s currently unknown if Zach Cregger’s plan is to direct Gladys, but at least he’s directly involved with the script. With the reboot of Resident Evil coming up for Cregger, it might be a hot minute before he can focus on Gladys. But now it sounds as if it’s something worth waiting for.