Weapons, Resident Evil
It took Cregger just four years — and two movies — to become an elite filmmaker who commands eight-figure deals. The 2022 low-budget cult hit Barbarian established him as one to watch. Then Weapons became not just one of the big moneymakers of 2025 ($270 million on a $38 million budget) but also landed an Oscar for Amy Madigan’s performance as Aunt Gladys. All of his projects have lit up insane bidding wars, including The Flood, a sci-fi feature that he will shoot for Warner Bros. early next year. He also is co-writing a Gladys prequel for the studio, even as he prepares for the Sept. 18 release of Sony’s Resident Evil.
After an intense day of filming, I unwind by: “[Playing] video games. It’s a really easy way for me to power my brain down and chew on something that has nothing to do with the production. I can just kill bad guys, and numb out. I’m sure there’s healthier ways to deal with stress but this is my junk food. And magnesium baths. During a shoot I take a lot of magnesium baths. Maybe that’s healthier.”
Best advice I’ve received about directing: “A director much smarter and more successful than me told me something that I’ll never forget. He said ‘Your department heads do not work for you. You work for them. And your job is to communicate to them what is in your head so precisely that there is no room for error.’ I think about that every day. I can never expect anyone to see exactly what I have in my mind. It’s my responsibility to get them on the same page.”
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GENRE DIRECTORS TO WATCH
Axelle Carolyn directed the well-received horror episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and is a veteran of numerous horror TV shows.
Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus put a supernatural lens on queer trauma and became a Sundance darling.
Dylan Clark was tapped to helm the new Blair Witch Project movie and has Portrait of God set to follow soon after, with Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele producing.
Mali Elfman, daughter of composer Danny Elfman, has the backing of Radio Silenceand Divide/Conquer — and ’90s scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar on her call sheet for Thud.
Natalie Erika James directed the Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A for Paramount+ and made Sundance audiences squirm with this year’s eating-disorder horror feature Saccharine.
Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 feature Nanny was the first horror movie to win the Sundance grand jury prize. Next up, she has a mysterious supernatural horror movie with Screen Gems and John David Washington.
Ben Leonberg‘s Good Boy barked up scares (and featured one of the best posters of 2025). He’s got Ankler Snatcher set up at Sony.
Chloe Okuno scales up from the Sundance horror feature Watcher, starring scream queen Maika Monroe, to the upcoming Neon movie Brides, set in 1961 Italy with Olivia Cooke.
Spanish helmer Carlota Pereda makes her English-language debut with The Edge of Normal, starring Chloë Grace Moretz as a woman who as a teen was abducted by a sadistic man.
Ian Tuason moves from Undertone, which grossed a massive $21.5 million on a $500,000 budget, to take the reins of the next Paranormal Activity movie.
Alex Ullom’s microbudget It Ends is now in theaters, and he has 4 X 4: The Event following behind for Neon, described as Battle Royale meets Saw.
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