Weapons Streaming Release: When It Drops and Where to Watch
The summer’s twistiest horror ride is coming home: Weapons lands on HBO Max October 24, 2025, after storming theaters August 8. From Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind Barbarian, this urban-legend thriller promises more mystery and nerve-jangling surprises.
Good news if you missed it in theaters or just want a second watch with the lights off: Zach Cregger's summer shocker 'Weapons' hits HBO Max on October 24, 2025. Perfect timing for spooky season, and yes, this is the same Cregger who blindsided everyone with 'Barbarian' in 2022. Different story, same knack for making you lean forward and say, wait, what?
So what is 'Weapons' actually about?
The hook is simple and deeply unsettling: in one small town, 17 third-grade kids all slip out of their homes at exactly 2:17 AM and disappear. No explanation. No note. Just gone. From there, the film follows the frantic investigation that pulls in their teacher, desperate parents, and local authorities. Cregger builds the mystery like an urban legend you swear you heard growing up, then keeps yanking the floor out from under you.
From surprise hit to Halloween streamer
'Weapons' opened in theaters on August 8, 2025 and way overperformed for an original horror film. Made for under $40 million, it racked up $266 million worldwide and debuted with $43 million domestically. It even outgrossed 'Barbarian' globally, which topped out around $45 million. Toss in a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes (with an 85% audience score) and a 7.5/10 on IMDb, and it is pretty firmly in the 2025 horror conversation.
Bottom line: if you skipped it in August, HBO Max has it on October 24, just when you need a new nightmare before Halloween.
The cast
- Julia Garner
- Josh Brolin
- Alden Ehrenreich
- Amy Madigan
- June Diane Raphael
- Benedict Wong
- Austin Abrams
- Cary Christopher (making his feature film debut)
About that Aunt Gladys prequel you heard whispers about
This is the kind of behind-the-scenes chatter that usually fizzles, except this one actually sounds real. Cregger told Fangoria that he has been talking with Warner Bros. about a prequel centered on Aunt Gladys, one of the movie's most skin-crawling characters. He did not hedge, either:
"It is real, and I've been talking to Warner Bros. about it. There's a story, and I'm pretty excited about it. It's not bullsh**.
I was ready. I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out."
Translation: this idea existed before the box office receipts rolled in. Cregger has other plates spinning (including a 'Resident Evil' reboot), but he sounds eager to dive back in when schedules line up. Amy Madigan, who plays Aunt Gladys, is game to return too, though she is keeping expectations realistic. As she put it to Deadline, she loved working with Cregger and loves the character, but in this business nothing is real until it is real.
When and where to watch
'Weapons' streams on HBO Max in the US starting October 24, 2025. Queue it up for your Halloween lineup, and if you already saw it theatrically, this is a solid rewatch with friends who have no idea what they are in for.