Zach Cregger’s Weapons has been one of this year’s most acclaimed horror movies, maintaining a strong box office performance in the weeks since its wide release on August 8. The film centers around a group of children who mysteriously go missing in the middle of the night, leaving the residents of their small town to figure out the truth behind their disappearance.
Josh Brolin plays Archer in Weapons, the father of one of the young children who went missing. Brolin has starred in countless successful movies throughout his career, from Avengers: Infinity War to Dune: Part Two, and Cregger’s recent horror is slowly beginning to climb that chart. The film has continued to perform excellently, with a recent surge causing it to overthrow another of Brolin’s most popular movies.
Weapons’ Box Office Has Overtaken Josh Brolin’s True Grit
At the time of publication, Weapons has amᴀssed over $253 million at the worldwide box office, building firmly upon its impressive $43 million opening weekend (via Box Office Mojo). This means that Cregger’s film has finally overtaken True Grit, which pulled in $252 million worldwide.
While these numbers still don’t rival Brolin’s biggest box office successes, the fact that Weapons can compete with popular blockbusters like True Grit is a huge accomplishment. On paper, True Grit definitely seems like the more audience-friendly movie: it was written and directed by the Coen brothers, features lead performances from Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, and fits neatly into the Western genre.
Weapons, on the other hand, is a much riskier project. Not only is the film rated R (which limits the number of people who can see it), but it’s also an original horror movie without that much name recognition for general audiences. Weapons‘ box office success is a testament solely to the film’s quality, as it’s clearly managed to stay alive thanks to strong word-of-mouth.
While critical acclaim and commercial success aren’t always linked that closely, it’s worth noting that True Grit has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%, and even went on to receive a Best Picture nomination. The film is widely considered to be one of the Coen brothers’ best, so the fact that Weapons has dethroned it at the box office shouldn’t be overlooked.
Many fans have already begun to campaign for Weapons to show up at the 2026 Oscars in some capacity, and this box office dominance is a crucial step towards that feat. It’s also a mᴀssive accomplishment for Cregger as a rising talent in Hollywood. His previous film, Barbarian, only managed $45 million worldwide. Weapons continues to prove that he has an interesting, expansive career ahead of him.
