Zach Cregger’s Weapons is set to be the next biggest film as far as horror is concerned, causing the bidding war for the film to have been separated by a few million dollars.
According to Deadline, the film sold to New Line for $38 million including the budget and Cregger’s $10 million total payment for his directing fee, scripting, and producing alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules.
Universal, in partnership with Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions, was outbid by $7 million. Peele was so eager to secure the film that he was reportedly “ready to kick in part of his contractual back end.” This, however, caused some strife. One version of events claims that Peele was “pissed” because he was allegedly told that if he matched New Line’s bid, he’d win, but the Us visionary and Universal weren’t confident about “the budget as a business proposition.” This was the reasoning behind them backing out.
Amid the auction and negotiating, Peele parted ways with his longtime Artists First management team, Joel Zadak and Peter Principato — the latter is also Cregger’s manager.
The men signed Peele back when he was an improv comic on Mad TV. He does remained repped by CAA. It’s unclear if the two events correlate.
Peele’s next cinematic adventure, HIM, is set for release this September. The Justin Tipping-directed film stars Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans, and centers around rising-star quarterback Cameron Cade (Withers) who suffers a potentially career-ending brain trauma injury after being attacked by an unhinged fan. Just when hope seems obsolete, he meets his hero, Isaiah White (Wayans), who offered to train him at his isolated compound with his celebrity influencer wife, Elyse (Julia Fox).
Per the official synopsis, “As Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.” See the trailer below.
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