‘Weapons’ Is Why We Go to the Movies, With Zach Cregger!

The Big Picture

The Ringer

Tv & Film

4.3 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

'Weapons' is finally here, and Sean gets back in the void for a deep dive on one of his most anticipated films of the year. But before diving in, he and Amanda are joined by Brian Raftery to discuss his narrative series, Mission Accomplished, that will run on the feed throughout the rest of August (2:02). The limited series examines the making of 12 great 2000s movies and chronicles how Hollywood and America changed during the Bush years. Next, before covering ‘Weapons,’ Sean uses another recent horror release—‘Together,’ starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie—as a comparison point to explore the current state of horror (14:19). Then, Sean shares five things he loved about Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons,’ starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, and makes a syllabus for the movie, one of his favorites of the year (24:33). Finally, Sean is joined by Cregger to unpack his sophomore horror feature film and share how the significant increase in resources impacted his process, how his life and career changed following the success of ‘Barbarian,’ and why he knew he was up to the task of directing this incredibly ambitious project (46:41). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Zach Cregger and Brian Raftery Producer: Jack Sanders This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have a very special announcement.
0:01.7	We had so much fun at our live show in Chicago.
0:03.6	We decided to head back out on the road this fall.
0:05.8	We're heading to the 92nd Street Y in New York City on Saturday, October 4th for a live show,
0:12.6	and we'd love for you to join us.
0:14.1	Mark your calendars because tickets will go on sale on August 12th at 2 p.m. Eastern Time at 929.9.9.9.9.9.org. Again, the big picture will be in New York City
0:30.5	at the 92nd Street. Why on Saturday? October 4th and tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 12th at 2 p.m.
0:37.3	Eastern Time. We hope to see you there.
0:52.1	I'm Sean Fennessey, and this is the Big Picture, a conversation show about weapons. Today it's a great day because there's a new Zach Craigor movie out, the multi-character horror thriller Weapons. We'll dig into this twisty, delightful new movie soon, along with another recent horror hit together. Later in the show, I'll be joined by Craigor to talk about weapons. Zach was last on the show a few years back with his surprise horror hit Barbarian, huge favorite of mine and CRs, simply one of the most exciting
1:15.1	new writer-directors to come along in a long time. Zach's super smart guy, fun guests, stick
1:19.9	around for that chat later in the episode we get pretty deep into the movie. But before that,
1:24.4	programming note for our listeners, this will be the last proper big picture episode in August.
1:30.5	Amanda and I are taking a brief break and we'll be back when we return from the fall film festivals in September in our place on the feed.
1:37.1	We're very lucky to have Brian Raftery back hosting another narrative series about the movies and Hollywood.
1:43.2	If you haven't had a chance to hear his past summer series on Siskel and Ebert
1:46.0	or Vietnam portrayed on screen or the Sony hack, check those out as well.
1:50.8	You can all find them in the archives of the big picture.
1:52.8	Now, let's hear from Brian about what he has for us this summer.
2:02.8	Well, Brian Raftery is here. It's summer, so there must be a Brian Raftery is here.
2:06.7	It's summer, so there must be a Brian Raftery series on The Big Picture.
2:07.9	Thank you for being here.
2:08.3	Absolutely. So just in a nutshell, explain what this idea was and how you went about pursuing it.
	...

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