‘Weapons’: Josh Brolin to Replace Pedro Pascal in ‘Barbarian’ Director’s Next Horror!!

Zach Cregger‘s followup to his horror hit Barbarian has lost its leading man, but may be in the process of gaining a new one. Josh Brolin is in talks to lead Weapons, a new horror film from Cregger, replacing Pedro Pascal. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the newly-minted Mister Fantastic had to drop out of the project after scheduling conflicts arose with Marvel‘s Fantastic Four. However, Brolin is now in negotiations to fill Pascal‘s shoes.

After Barbarian became a surprise hit with critics and audiences, anticipation has been running high for Cregger‘s followup. So far, little is known about the plot of Weapons, or who Brolin may be playing. However, the Hollywood Reporter describes it as a “interrelated, multistory horror epic”, likening it to Paul Thomas Anderson‘s 1999 labyrinthine ensemble drama Magnolia. It was originally slated to begin production last year, but the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production, causing it to run into Pascal’s Fantastic Four shooting schedule and necessitating a search for a new leading man.

Who Is Josh Brolin?

The son of 1970s leading man James Brolin, Josh Brolin broke out with his role in the 1986 Richard Donner kid-flick The Goonies. His sophomore film, the skateboarding drama Thrashin’, was less successful, and Brolin‘s subsequent roles were limited, as he took supporting roles in films like Mimic, The Mod Squad, and Hollow Man. However, his career underwent a renaissance when he landed the lead role in the Coen Bros‘ chilling neo-Western No Country for Old Men. He soon became one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood, with leading roles in Oliver Stone‘s W. (as George W. Bush), Sicario, and Hail Caesar. He played the comic book supervillain Thanos via motion-capture in a number of MCU films, and also starred as Cable in Deadpool 2. He currently stars in Amazon Prime‘s sci-fi Western Outer Range, which will be released in May, and is set to reprise his role as Gurney Halleck in next month’s hotly-anticipated Dune: Part Two.

Cregger, a veteran of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know before making his pivot to horror with Barbarian, will both write and direct Weapons. He will also produce the film, alongside Roy Lee of Vertigo, and J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures, the same producing team that made Barbarian. Vertigo’s Miri Yoon will also produce.