Horror’s newest slasher icon: A little old lady in a red wig.
After powering the summer’s sleeper horror hit Weapons, the unforgettable Aunt Gladys is now getting her own movie. Variety reports that Weapons writer/director Zach Cregger is working on the script with Zach Shields, who previously wrote films like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
In Weapons, Gladys was played by Amy Madigan. Last month, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the film. (Weapons was such a signature 2025 movie, in fact, that Oscars host Conan O’Brien spoofed the movie’s big climax as part of the ceremony’s opening comedy sketch.)
Weapons”/>Warner Bros.
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In Weapons, a small town is rocked by the sudden disappearance of all but one of the children in a single public-school class. The mystery is ultimately revealed to be the work of (spoiler alert) Gladys, an old woman who uses what seems to be some kind of supernatural spell or ritual to control people through strands of their hair.
The film never fully explains where Gladys came from or the full extent of her powers, which left plenty of room for this project. The big question at this point: Will Madigan return to play Gladys? Or will the fact that it is a prequel allow them to cast a younger actress and set the film some time in the past. (Given Gladys’ strange powers, a prequel could conceivably set at almost any point in history.)
Variety says “the prequel has been in the works for months following the horror movie’s breakout box office and critical success.”
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