Weapons has crushed the box office haul of its predecessor. The movie, which is the new horror тιтle from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, follows a small town rocked by the mᴀss disappearance of all but one student in an elementary school class. It stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.

2022’s Barbarian was the first horror movie helmed by Cregger, who had previously only directed comedy projects such as The Whitest Kids U’Know and Miss March. The movie, which starred Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell,, and Justin Long, was a smash hit, grossing $45.4 million against its reported production budget of roughly $4.5 million.

Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Cregger’s Weapons is projected to hit a cumulative total of $199 million worldwide by the end of its third weekend, comprising $115.9 million from domestic theaters and an international haul of $83.1 million. It is now drawing close to becoming just the 16th movie of 2025 to pᴀss the $200 million global milestone.

However, its current total already sees it hitting a major benchmark, as Weapons has now grossed more than four times the global haul of Barbarian.

What This Means For Weapons

While the new Zach Cregger movie has substantially outgrossed Barbarian, it has not yet turned the same level of profit compared to its budget. The reported budget of 2025’s Weapons is $38 million, which is more than seven times that of the 2022 movie.

However, Weapons has sprinted past its estimated break-even point. Because movies often need to earn back two and a half times their budget in theaters, it was most likely already in the black by the time it earned $95 million.

Weapons ultimately seems unlikely to have the same return on investment as Barbarian, which would require it to earn $383.4 million. However, it is on a trajectory to potentially outgross Final Destination Bloodlines ($287.2 million) to become the second highest-grossing horror movie of 2025, behind Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ($365.9 million).

Our Take On The Weapons Box Office

Regardless of its performance compared to Barbarian, Zach Cregger’s new movie is a triumph of a sophomore horror feature. While 2025’s earlier sophomore feature in the genre (the Philippou Brothers’ Bring Her Back, their next movie after 2023’s Talk to Me) had a more lukewarm critical and commercial reception than its predecessor, the same was not true for Zach Cregger.

In addition to the new movie grossing considerably more than Barbarian, Weapons reviews were stronger than its predecessor’s, earning it Rotten Tomatoes scores of 94% from critics and 86% from audiences, compared to Barbarian‘s 92% and 70%. This could spell very good news for Zach Cregger’s impending third horror feature, a reboot of the Resident Evil movie franchise.

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