Gladys: Weapons Prequel Movie Announced by New Line Cinema

Aunt Gladys Returns: New Line Cinema Greenlights ‘Weapons’ Horror Prequel

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are developing a prequel titled ‘Gladys’ following Amy Madigan’s Academy Award win for the character in Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons.’

Sofia Chen

Apr 2, 2026, 4:43 AM PT · 1 min read

THE RUNDOWN

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are developing a horror prequel titled Gladys.
The film serves as an origin story for Amy Madigan’s character from Weapons.
Zach Cregger and Zach Shields are confirmed to co-write the screenplay.
Amy Madigan won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role.
The project follows the critical and commercial success of the 2026 film Weapons.

New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures are officially expanding the Weapons universe. The studios have announced the development of a prequel film titled Gladys, which will focus on the dark origin story of the haunting character Aunt Gladys. The announcement follows the massive success of Zach Cregger’s 2025 horror epic, which has quickly become a cornerstone of modern genre filmmaking.

The prequel will delve into the early years of the character portrayed by Amy Madigan, who recently secured the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Weapons. While Madigan brought the older version of the character to life, the new film aims to uncover the specific events and traumas that shaped her into the figure seen in the original movie. No production start date has been set yet by the studios.

Zach Cregger, the writer and director behind Barbarian and Weapons, is returning to write and produce the project. He will co-write the script with Zach Shields, whose previous credits include Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Krampus. The duo is expected to maintain the intricate, multi-layered storytelling style that defined the first film while providing a deep dive into the Weapons lore.