11th May 2023, Mumbai: After starring in the critically acclaimed and multi award winner the Last Of Us, Pedro Pascal has another project lined up called Weapons, the newest movie project from the filmmakers behind the surprise horror breakout Barbarian.
Zach Cregger, a former actor turned filmmaker, wrote the script for the feature, which is produced by New Line. Zach Cregger also serves as the film’s director. Along with his Barbarian producing team, Roy Lee of Vertigo, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures, Cregger will also produce. Additionally, producer Miri Yoon of Vertigo.
Weapons is described as an interconnected, multistory horror epic with a tone similar to Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 actor-packed showcase Magnolia. Plot details are being kept under lock and key, however. Pascal’s persona is the film was kept a secret. A fall shoot is in consideration.
Hollywood studios and streamers competed for the chance to collaborate with Cregger, whose Barbarian, made for only $4.5 million, became a favourite of not only viewers and critics but also cineastes and other filmmakers and performers. Weapons was the subject of a fierce bidding war in January. New Line finally won the auction, creating a contract rarely seen in contemporary times that featured, among other criteria, a guaranteed green light and guaranteed theatrical release.
After appearing in shows like Narcos and Game of Thrones, Pascal played the helmeted bounty hunter Din Djarin in the Star Wars franchise The Mandalorian. And while the actor’s face wasn’t seen much on the show, The Mandalorian’s popularity increased Pascal’s intergalactic appeal.
Earlier this year, that fascination took on a whole new dimension when he starred in The Last of Us, his HBO adaptation of Sony’s video game. In the role of a broken but steadfast father who guides a stubborn young woman in a post-apocalyptic America, the series defied the expectations of the zombie genre and focused on drama and relationships. Critics and television viewers followed suit, with the show growing in viewership each week and becoming a ratings hit for Cable’s network, but continuing its tradition of producing quality, curated series. . Critics and TV viewers followed suit, and the show continued to grow in viewership week after week, hitting cable network ratings. At the same time, we continued the tradition of producing high quality, carefully selected series.
Pascal is currently preparing to begin production on the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator with Paramount. He also has the Ethan Coen-directed film Drive Away Dolls (coming out on Focus Features in September) and the Pedro Almodóvar short film Strange, also starring Ethan Hawke. The Way of Life will be at the Croisette for the Cannes Film Festival premiere. It will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics this fall.
Written by: Khushboo Singh