Zach Cregger explains why the Weapons credits thank David Fincher. The movie is the second horror feature film from the director, who made his impressive debut with Barbarian back in 2022. This time, he tackles a deeply psychological and mysterious story surrounding a group of 17 school children who disappear when they all leave their houses one day at 2:17am.
Weapons has been a huge hit in theaters thus far. Not only has it gotten rave reviews from critics, but it has already managed an impressive box office for a horror movie that far exceeds that of Barbarian. At the time of writing, Weapons has made over $81 million worldwide, a total that is growing.
Speaking in an interview with Variety, Cregger explains why Fincher was thanked in the movie’s credits. Cregger explained that Fincher was extremely helpful to him throughout the process, giving the newer director “really constructive thoughts” and making himself “very available during the post process.”
Cregger specified that Fincher was especially helpful in helping him arrive at the “best” take. Setting these high sights involved post-production techniques, including ADR, and also helping hone his understanding of “what lenses to use.” Check out the full quote from Cregger below:
David Fincher is thanked in the end credits. How did he help you with the film?
He’s just a very helpful guy. He was available to me during prep, and then he was very available during the post process. He watched the movie and had a lot of really constructive thoughts and gave me a ton of ideas. He helped me learn more about the editing process and how to think about it in a new way that wasn’t available to me when I was making “Barbarian.” So he just opened my mind up a lot.
In what ways specifically?
There are things I thought I had to just settle for. I thought, “Well, that’s the take I have. That’s the best take. And it’s not perfect, but by God, nothing is.” Dave’s atтιтude is, “It can always be better, and there are a lot of tools that you have at your disposal that you might not be thinking about.” So, from reframing to stabilization to ADR to all sorts of things, it was really cool. Honestly, I learned a lot about how to prep, what lenses to use. I sH๏τ this mostly anamorphic, and I didn’t quite respect how limiting anamorphic is in the post process. So stuff like that, technical stuff.
What This Means For Weapons
Fincher himself is one of the most creatively formative directors of the last few decades. Fincher’s movies are known for their bold storytelling, evidenced by works like Se7en, Gone Girl, and Zodiac. This background makes him an especially interesting creative for a younger director to take inspiration from, as he is well versed in creative structural techniques.
Fincher and Cregger also share a similar affinity for mystery. While Weapons certainly has its moments of gore, jump scares, and other typical horror genre staples, it is fundamentally a mystery movie. The characters are guided by the centralizing question of “what happened to these kids” and take audiences with them on a search for answers.
Looking at his recent quote, it seems that Cregger really took Fincher’s advice in stride. He used the seasoned director’s words to push himself to make the best version of his artistic work. It also gave the up-and-coming director a good sense of what to work towards in future projects, including better “prep” for shoots.
Our Take On Fincher’s Influence On Weapons
After seeing Weapons myself, I am not surprised to learn about how influential Fincher was in the process. Movies like Gone Girl are structurally unique, but directed with a level of confidence that helps pull the audience along with their every conceit.
Weapons feels very in line with these sensibilities. I did not go in expecting it to be set up how it was, but once I discovered how it was operating, I was transfixed by the journey the film was taking me on. I hope Cregger and Fincher cross paths again if it means making another movie this good.
