Weapons made Aunt Gladys instantly unforgettable, with Amy Madigan turning her into the kind of horror figure that lingers long after the credits roll. The character’s eerie look, strange behavior, and sudden violence gave the film some of its most unnerving moments, and Madigan’s performance was strong enough to earn her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

That success has only made the idea of revisiting Gladys more enticing, because her menace felt like the tip of a much larger, stranger story.

And now that mystery may be answered by a prequel that could trace her back to something even darker.

Speaking to Collider’s Directors on Directing panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Zach Cregger said he is genuinely excited about the planned Weapons prequel centered on Gladys.

“I’m really excited about the Gladys movie, and I loved working with Amy,” he told the crowd. He explained that Weapons worked best by keeping her backstory hidden, because the original film’s power came from her mystery.

Even so, he said there is still a major story to explore about where she came from and how she became the person audiences met in Weapons. Cregger also made clear that the project is not being treated like a quick cash-in.

“It’s got a lot of twists and turns and mysteries and crazy things, like Weapons does,” he said as The Hollywood Reporter reported, stressing that the script is actively being written and taken seriously. 

The prequel is currently in development at New Line Cinema under the working title Gladys, with Cregger and Zach Shields writing the script. Given how Weapons became a major box-office success and turned Gladys into a breakout horror icon, this follow-up has a built-in audience before a single frame is shot. What did you think of Gladys in Weapons and would you watch a prequel about her origin?

Despite Pedro Pascal Ditch, 'Weapons' Debuts a Perfect 100% Score With Internet on Fire

That same instinct to reshape familiar horror ideas is now driving Cregger’s take on another major franchise.

Resident Evil looks like Zach Cregger’s biggest swing yet, and the new trailer makes it clear he is aiming for a survival-horror movie rather than a straight fan-service adaptation. After the backlash to the first teaser, which many fans felt looked too much like a generic horror film, Cregger defended his approach by stressing that he was not trying to simply replay the games beat for beat. 

Cregger’s version centers on Bryan, a biomedical courier played by Austin Abrams, whose routine delivery turns into a nightmare once the outbreak spirals out of control. The setup is simple on purpose, and that is the point. Instead of following familiar franchise heroes, the film drops an ordinary character into a collapsing world and lets the panic unfold around him.

According to early reactions, the movie’s atmosphere and creature work are doing much of the heavy lifting. That balance may be what gives the project its best shot. If the trailer is any indication, the film wants to feel like a frantic night from the games translated into cinema, with stronger horror instincts and a more grounded emotional hook. Resident Evil opens in German-speaking Swiss cinemas on September 17, 2026.

Is ‘Weapons’ on Netflix? Where Can You Stream the 2025 Julia Garner Flick?

What do you think about the Weapons prequel and Zach Cregger’s new direction for Resident Evil? Let us know in the comments.