Shocker: Disneynature's ‘African Cats’ Shares a Cinematic Universe With ‘Jackass Forever'
No, Craig Zeggler’s ‘Weapons' need not be a secret ‘Barbarians’ spin-off to be of optimum artistic and commercial value, and we should stop pretending as such.
Zach Cregger claimed on the CinemaCon stage that the sizzle reel offered up for Weapons won’t be released to the general public. Whether it will be included in the Cinema Foundation’s “Sneak Peek Showcase,” a 70-minute presentation playing theatrically on April 22 and April 24 (for $3 a pop) featuring what I assume will be quite a bit of the sizzle reels and trailers that played in Las Vegas, I cannot say. But, now that I’ve plugged that event as promised (and yeah, as someone who still pops into opening day PLF showings of major movies to watch the trailers, I’ll try to be there), I digress.
What we got earlier this week was essentially the launch of WBD’s marketing campaign in the form of a website offering newspaper articles. One lays out the film’s core hook: 17 kids in a neighborhood wake up at 2:17 a.m., walk out of their homes, and vanish. The other offers what is essentially a brief summation of Cregger’s Barbarian. In a vacuum, it’s a cute in-joke and a worthwhile bit of mischief.
However, this has led to many breathless articles wondering if the film takes place in the same universe as the 2022 horror flick and/or if the two films form part of a new horror-specific “cinematic universe.” Speculate all you want, but I’m pretty sure they take place on “Earth, present-day.” Just like, hear me out, all of Michael Moore’s films take place in the same universe as the Jackass films and those DisneyNature flicks.
The real question is why anyone would be more excited for Weapons if it takes place in the same continuity as Barbarians? The weird notion, perhaps a case where performatively hyperbolic SEO-focused media coverage >> actual general audience interest, is that an original genre flick is more valuable or exciting if it’s part of an existing continuity. You can’t have it both ways.