Weapons Director Zach Cregger Reveals Chilling Alternate Ending That Test Audiences Rejected

Zach Cregger, the weapons director, shared that the horror film Weapons originally had a darker ending. The movie follows a town shaken by strange events, centered around seventeen children who mysteriously vanish from their elementary school. The story mixes supernatural forces with a threatening figure, Gladys, played by Amy Madigan. She uses witchcraft to trap Alex’s classmates and drain their energy, showing how dangerous she is. In the final version, Gladys is defeated, and the narration tells us that Alex is now with a family member and hints that some children might recover.

Original Ending Vs Final Cut: What Changed In Weapons

Cregger revealed in an interview with Inverse that the original ending was much bleaker. It simply ended on a close-up of Archer’s son without any voiceover. He preferred that silent finish, but test audiences did not respond well to it. So, adding the narration gave the film a more open yet slightly reassuring conclusion by offering viewers some sense of closure while still leaving things vague.

In the initial cut, after Gladys was killed in a brutal way, the screen just faded to black on the kid’s face, with only the credits following, and that ending left some viewers confused and unsettled. The voiceover was added later to soften that impact, explaining what happened to the children and hinting at a hopeful future.