Killer horror-thriller Weapons once had a very different cast that included The Fantastic Four star Pedro Pascal as the father of a missing kid. After Pascal had to drop out over scheduling issues, fellow MCU star Josh Brolin came in to replace him. But according to the director of the movie, the exit caused significant issues.
Weapons has enjoyed positive reviews ahead of its August 8 release date. IGN’s Weapons review returned a 9/10. We said: “Writer-director Zach Cregger blends unbearable tension and dark humor once more in Weapons, a horror blockbuster that’s less of a blunt-force barbarian and more of a sharp-shooting assassin.”
But it could have been a very different movie. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, writer/director Zach Cregger said he once had “a whole different cast,” but a series of unfortunate events, including the 2023 Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes, tore up those plans.
“And then we had the strike, and then Pedro Pascal’s schedule threw us into turmoil,” Cregger said. “I had to recast the entire movie.”
The original cast included Pascal as Archer, Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World), and Austin Abrams (Wolfs). But with the strikes pushing everything back, schedules were put out of joint and Pascal, who had high-profile productions such as The Last of Us Season 2 and The Fantastic Four: First Steps to contend with, had to drop out.
The cast ended up with Thanos actor Brolin as Archer, Alden Ehrenreich as local cop Paul, and Julia Garner, who coincidentally plays Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as elementary school teacher Ms. Justine Gandy. Abrams, who plays a drug-addled homeless man, was the only one of the quartet to carry forward.
Cregger, though, sounds philosophical about the ordeal. “This is what happens, right?” he said. “The strikes delayed us, and then when you delay, people’s schedules get conflicts, and then you’re back at square one. I bear no ill will towards anybody. We just kept getting delayed and delayed. It’s like a domino effect. So I had to start over again.”
Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
