Deadline Hollywood reported that New Line Cinema won the spec script in a bidding war against, allegedly, Universal, Netflix and Sony/TriStar. The Hollywood Reporter detailed that part of the deal were a eight figure sum of money, a guaranteed greenlight for production, final cut privileges for Cregger, interest in a backend pot and, most importantly in closing the deal, the guarantee of a theatrical release. Insiders called it a unprecedented deal in modern times and is compared to M. Night Shyamalan deals post The Sixth Sense (1999).
Netflix was ready to pay more money upfront than New Line, but a assured theatrical release and New Line's track record with horror were the better selling point.
Shortly after the announcement of the film, first rumors stated that the story will revolve around "witchcraft and missing children".
Viewers at an early test screening praised the film for its perfect balance of horror comedy and small town drama, calling it a worthy successor to the early horror films of Sami Raimi and Peter Jackson; furthermore, the film was said to bare similarities to the films of Bong-Joon Ho along with late 90s/early 2000s horror mystery movies like The Ring, What Lies Beneath, and Sleepy Hollow.
Weapons script is said to be tonally in the vein of Magnolia (1999) from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Magnolia and, reportedly Weapons as well, feature multiple story threads that are interrelated to one another.
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