‘Weapons’ Director Zach Cregger Reveals Pedro Pascal’s Schedule Caused Him To “Recast The Entire Movie”
Did ‘Pedro Fatigue’ almost ruin Weapons? It seems that way based on what the director, Zach Cregger, had to say about Pedro Pascal bailing on the hit new horror film. Originally, Pascal was slated for the part that went to Josh Brolin, but the Fantastic Four: First Steps actor’s schedule and the recent Hollywood strikes overthrew Cregger’s initial plans.
“I had a whole different cast for this movie,” Cregger admitted in Entertainment Weekly. “And then we had the strike, and then Pedro Pascal’s schedule threw us into turmoil. I had to recast the entire movie.”
He added, “This is what happens, right? 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.”
Weapons‘ cast was set as a star-studded ensemble of current-year names before things went topsy-turvy. Brian Tyree Henry (Godzilla vs. Kong, Eternals) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World, A Different Man) were meant to appear in the thriller until plans changed.
However, Cregger got to keep one actor he had signed on in the beginning: Euphoria and Wolfs star Austin Abrams, who plays the drug addict. Largely, this was due to Abrams’ determination. “He hung tough with me,” Cregger said. “That’s my dude right there.”
Abrams’ enthusiasm for Weapons, as much as the opportunity to work with Cregger, began when he saw Barbarian in a packed theater. The actor “hung tough” for every twist, turn, and camera movement, knowing afterward he had to work with the filmmaker someday.
“So when I got out of the theater, I was like, ‘I need to figure out how to meet this guy and work with this guy.’ And it’s so rare that it actually happens. But I just thought he was so gutsy, and it was so refreshing to experience. Weapons then came together, and I only want to work on things that I want to work on,” Abrams said in The Hollywood Reporter.
Weapons is doing well at the box office, so things worked out despite the choices Cregger was forced to make. Moreover, arguably, having his back to the wall thanks to Pedro Pascal only made the film better. Pascal is overexposed this year and, honestly, has been for the last few years.
He has already starred in Eddington, The Materialists, and the aforementioned Fantastic Four film. That’s not even counting his lead role in The Last of Us, and the way that tenure ended. Enough people are sick of seeing him everywhere that the fatigue has become palpable, and not to mention a meme.
Weapons would have been his fourth movie this year, and his second in theaters currently, had he stayed on. Not only did that not pan out, but Cregger’s little horror film that could is performing better at the box office than First Steps. Does that mean the fatigue is real? Maybe.
NEXT: ‘Weapons’ (2025) Review — Hilarious Horror That Trickles Through A Dramatic and Bonkers Mystery
