“Weapons” Prequel “Gladys” Is Officially in the Works After Amy Madigan's Oscar Win
“Weapons” Prequel “Gladys” Is Officially in the Works After Amy Madigan's Oscar Win
Tommy McArdleThu, April 2, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC
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Amy Madigan in Weapons; Amy Madigan at the 2026 Oscars on March 15, 2026Credit: Quantrell Colbert/Warner Bros.; Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty -
The prequel to Weapons is officially in the works, more than two weeks after Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Oscars for portraying Aunt Gladys
Weapons writer-director Zach Cregger will first release his new Resident Evil adaptation on Sept. 18
Cregger first shared that he "had another idea" for a story in his Weapons' world the same week the movie released in August 2025
Amy Madigan is one step closer to reprising her Oscar-winning performance as Aunt Gladys from Weapons.
Zach Shields has been enlisted to cowrite a prequel to Weapons alongside the movie's writer-director Zach Cregger, multiple outlets reported on Wednesday, April 1. The news comes months after Cregger, 45, intimated that he was in conversations with Warner Bros. to make a prequel centered around Madigan's terrifying, witchy villain and more than two weeks after Madigan, 75, won Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Oscars for her acclaimed performance in the movie.
Screenwriter Shields is best known for his work writing the most recent two movies in the Godzilla x Kong franchise, as well as the 2015 movie Krampus. The working title for the movie is reportedly Gladys, the name of Madigan's character.
Madigan won her first Academy Award on her second nomination for her performance in Weapons, which capped off an awards season during which she also won a Critics Choice Award and Actor Award for the performance. (She was also nominated for a Golden Globe.)
Amy Madigan in WeaponsCredit: Quantrell Colbert/Warner Bros.
Weapons follows various residents of a small town in the weeks after 17 kids from the same elementary school class mysteriously run out of their homes overnight and disappear. Madigan's Aunt Gladys emerges as the movie's primary villain and torments characters portrayed by Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong and child star Cary Christopher throughout the film.
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Writer-director Cregger first told Variety in an interview published the same week Weapons hit theaters that he had "another idea for something in this world that I'm kind of excited about." As the movie evolved into one of 2025's best performing movies at the box office, The Hollywood Reporter reported that multiple sources said Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema were discussing making a prequel exploring Aunt Gladys' origin story.
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Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys in 'Weapons' (2025).Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
At that time, THR reported that Weapons originally featured some of Gladys' backstory in an early version of the script that was cut to keep the movie's runtime down. "I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out," Cregger told Fangoria in a September 2025 interview.
Neither a release date nor casting for Gladys have been announced yet. Before the movie is made, Cregger will premiere his new film — an adaptation of the Resident Evil video games — on Sept. 18.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
