After its excellent debut, Zach Cregger’s Weapons is only becoming a bigger phenomenon. Only days after closing out its opening weekend, the psychological horror and dark comedy has hit another significant milestone, continuing Warner Bros.’ fantastic box office streak in 2025. All the while, Weapons is garnering incredible praise from critics and audiences alike.
Starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, and more, Weapons follows the chilling mystery of the disappearance of 17 children, all from the same elementary school class, in a single night. Many have noted that Weapons’ success has swiftly become comparable to Sinners’ from earlier this year.
As of today, Aug. 12, a few days after the movie’s Aug. 8 release date, Weapons has crossed the $80 million mark at the worldwide box office, having grossed $81.25 million, per The Numbers. Despite being an R-rated horror, Weapons is on track to be another box office underdog story, on a modest budget of $38 million.
What This Box Office Milestone Means For Weapons
As it is generally estimated that a movie needs to earn two and a half times its budget to break even, with marketing and distribution costs factored in, Weapons still needs to gross approximately $20 million more before it sees a profit. But when it has made $81 million in a matter of days, this is pretty much a guarantee.
Weapons hasn’t even entered its second weekend in movie theaters yet, which will likely see another large boost in its total gross. It fell slightly short of Sinners’ opening weekend gross from March, but not by much; it is likely that Weapons will also go on to be considered one of the best movies of the year.
Weapons, Sinners, and a few other 2025 pictures have also contributed to Warner Bros.’ breaking a historic box office record, with six consecutive movies all grossing at least $40 million apiece. Therefore, the company is likely to keep elevating Weapons however it can and will seriously consider similar projects in the future.
Our Take On Weapons’ New Box Office Milestone
Weapons is essentially confirmed to be a profitable movie, which is another victory for both original content and the horror genre. Movies like this might not be making money in the billions like the franchise heavy hitters, given their more limited potential audience. However, they are now being reaffirmed as a route to profits and genuine status in the zeitgeist.
With both Weapons and Sinners coming out, the awarding bodies ignore horror at their own peril this year. Meanwhile, these success stories might actually be the push Hollywood needs to begin investing again in original, risky content, reminding us what filmmaking is all about.
