Weapons: Why Pedro Pascal Was Recast Explained by Director

In the build-up to the release of his upcoming mystery horror film Weapons, writer and director Zach Cregger has explained why he ended up replacing Pedro Pascal with Josh Brolin in the movie. In a recent interview, the 44-year-old filmmaker opened up about the events that forced him to make several alterations to the film.

Zach Cregger says Pedro Pascal was replaced by Josh Brolin due to strikes

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Zach Cregger revealed that he had to recast Pedro Pascal’s leading role in Weapons due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes of 2023. With the protests forcing delays in several developing projects at the time, including Weapons, Cregger had to pass Pascal’s role of Archer Graff on to Josh Brolin to make up for the resulting scheduling conflicts.

“I had a whole different cast for this movie. And then we had the strike, and then Pedro Pascal’s schedule threw us into turmoil,” Cregger said about the recasting.

Cregger had to let go of several other actors from the project, including Brian Tyree Henry and Renate Reinsve, due to similar scheduling conflicts. The director summarized the numerous issues he faced by simply saying, “I had to recast the entire movie.”

Expanding upon the decision to replace Pedro Pascal in Weapons, Cregger stated, “The strikes delayed us, and then when you delay, people’s schedules get conflicts, and then you’re back at square one. I bear no ill will towards anybody. We just kept getting delayed and delayed. It’s like a domino effect. So I had to start over again.”

However, Cregger was luckily able to retain one member from the cast he originally envisioned for Weapons, Austin Abrams, who plays the conniving drug addict Anthony. “He hung tough with me. That’s my dude right there,” Cregger said of the Euphoria star.

Weapons is currently on track to hit theaters on August 8, 2025.

Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net