Amy Madigan barely had time to set down her Oscar before the wheels started turning on what comes next. The villain who haunted audiences throughout Weapons is getting her own origin story — and the film already has a title that makes everything crystal clear: Gladys.

The Prequel Is Real — And It Finally Has a Name

According to Deadline, Weapons director Zach Cregger is teaming up with screenwriter Zach Shields — known for Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters — to co-write the screenplay for the Weapons prequel at Warner Bros. and New Line.

The working title Gladys says just about everything you need to know. This is an origin story — a deep dive into the woman behind one of horror’s most talked-about new villains. And based on everything Cregger has said publicly, it’s a story he’s been sitting on for a while.

Cregger Had the Story Ready Before Weapons Even Hit Theaters

In a revealing interview with Fangoria back in September, Cregger was surprisingly candid about where his head was at:

“There’s a story and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s not bullshit. I was ready. I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out.” — Zach Cregger

That kind of confidence from a filmmaker usually means one of two things — either they’re bluffing, or they genuinely have something worth telling. Given that Cregger actually cut scenes from the original Weapons that explored Aunt Gladys’s backstory, it sounds very much like the prequel will pull directly from that material and expand it into something much larger.

In other words, Gladys isn’t being invented from scratch. The bones were already there — they’re just building the house around them.

Will Cregger Direct — And Is Amy Madigan Coming Back?

Here’s where things get a little murky. Cregger is confirmed as a producer on the prequel, but Deadline notably makes no mention of whether he’ll return to direct. That’s not a small detail — his distinctive visual style was a huge part of what made Weapons work, and his absence from the director’s chair would absolutely be felt.

Amy Madigan’s return is also unconfirmed. Given that Gladys is essentially an origin story built around her character, it’s hard to imagine the film landing without her. But at this stage, nothing is locked in.

What Cregger Is Doing Before Gladys

Before Gladys takes shape on screen, Cregger has another massive project in the pipeline. He’s directing a bold new take on the Resident Evil franchise, due in theaters on September 18, 2026. Horror fans are already watching closely — the man is on a serious hot streak, and expectations for both films are sky-high.

For now, Gladys is in the writing stage. But with a story reportedly in Cregger’s pocket since before Weapons even released, the real question isn’t whether this will be worth watching — it’s how soon we get to find out.