One of the most exciting horror updates to come out of San Diego Comic-Con wasn’t about Zach Cregger‘s upcoming Resident Evil reboot.
It was a promising update on Gladys, the upcoming prequel to last year’s horror sensation, Weapons.
Appearing during Collider’s Directors on Directing panel at Comic-Con, Cregger assured fans that the project is moving forward and revealed why he’s so eager to return to one of the film’s most terrifying characters.
“First of all, I’m really excited about the Gladys movie,” Cregger told the audience. “I loved working with Amy Madigan. I loved that character.”
He then teased what’s to come.
“For the movie Weapons, it really made a lot of sense not to dive into her backstory because the device of Weapons was to keep her very mysterious.
“However, there’s an amazing story to be told about where Gladys comes from and how she became what we know her as,” he continued. “It’s got a lot of twists and turns and mysteries and crazy things, like Weapons does. I think it’s going to be great.”
When asked about the status of the project, Cregger confirmed that development is well underway.
“The script is in progress now,” he said, adding that the team is taking it “super seriously” and that it’s “moving in the right direction.”
While Zach Cregger had already become a favorite among horror fans with Barbarian, it was Weapons that truly launched him into another league. The filmmaker’s fractured, multi-perspective storytelling helped turn what initially appeared to be a simple missing children mystery into one of the year’s most shocking and unpredictable horror films.
Personally, it’s exactly why I respond so strongly to his work.
Rather than following a traditional three-act structure, Cregger constantly shifts perspective and withholds information, forcing audiences to piece the mystery together alongside the characters. As someone who loves narrative detours and stories that refuse to play by the rules, I found Weapons endlessly refreshing.
Then there was Gladys.
Without spoiling the film for anyone who still hasn’t seen it, Amy Madigan’s performance instantly elevated the character into horror icon status. Her chilling portrayal earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making Gladys one of the rare horror villains to receive recognition at the Oscars while immediately joining the conversation alongside icons like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Pinhead, Chucky, and, more recently, Art the Clown.
It was almost inevitable that Warner Bros. and New Line would want to tell more of her story.
That’s exactly what Gladys intends to do. According to Cregger, the film will explore the origins of the mysterious character while retaining the same unpredictable storytelling and mystery that made Weapons such a standout.
Interestingly, Cregger isn’t directing this time around. As previously announced, he’ll remain creatively involved while focusing his attention on Sony’s upcoming Resident Evil reboot, with J.T. Mollner stepping behind the camera for Gladys. The prequel is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 8, 2028.
After Weapons became one of last year’s biggest horror success stories, expanding its world always felt inevitable. Based on Cregger’s comments, though, Gladys isn’t simply being made because audiences wanted more. It sounds like he genuinely believes there’s another great story waiting to be told. And if it’s anywhere near as surprising as Weapons, horror fans are in for something special.
