Warner Bros. Keeps Rolling with Weapons

Warner Bros. continues its summer box-office rampage. Weapons, a horror film from New Line, racked up $18.2 million on its opening day, which includes $5.7 million from previews, across 3,202 theaters. That launch sets it on pace for an estimated $40 million opening weekend. It’s shaping up to outpace the entire domestic run of its director’s previous hit, Barbarian, which grossed just $40.8 million.

Critics and Audiences Are On Board

Audiences gave Weapons a rare A- CinemaScore, and critics are nearly as enthusiastic, with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and 88% from audiences. That makes Weapons one of only a handful of horror films since 1981 to earn that kind of audience praise, and it joins Sinners as the second Warner horror this year to hit that mark.

A Horror Mystery That Delivers

What this really means is that Weapons isn’t just another jump-scare flick. It dives into the mysterious disappearance of seventeen children from a classroom at 2:17 a.m., blending strong performances with non-linear storytelling that unnerves and hooks you. The cast, including Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, and Benedict Wong, brings authenticity to a chilling story that critics say is Cregger’s leap in storytelling since Barbarian.

Box-Office Momentum and Studio Dominance

Warner Bros. is having a moment. Following hits like A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Superman, and as a distributor on F1, the studio has already earned $1.45 billion domestically in 2025 and $2.7 billion worldwide. Weapons reinforces that run, with audiences and critics on board and a big opening weekend making it another sure win.

The Bottom Line

What this really means is that Weapons validates the power of genre filmmaking done smart. It backed strong storytelling and atypical structure with effective marketing and tapped into an audience hunger for something scarier and smarter. If it holds its ground over the weekend, it may set the bar for original horror in 2025.