Barbarian and Weapons Director Wrote a Gotham DC Movie (But Don’t Expect To See It Soon)
With the runaway success of his 2022 horror hit Barbarian, director Zach Cregger became one of Hollywood’s most coveted filmmakers. He quickly leveraged that success to launch Weapons, a secretive horror epic starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, which New Line Cinema has slated for an August 2025 release. More recently, Cregger was handed the reins to Sony’s blockbuster Resident Evil franchise and has been hired by Sony’s Screen Gems to both write and direct a complete theatrical reboot, which is aiming for a 2026 release date. While his schedule is filled with these high-profile projects, new reports reveal that Cregger has also secretly penned a script for a DC horror movie set in Gotham City, though he has yet to formally pitch it to DC Studios.
The news of Cregger’s script resurfaced via a report from entertainment insider Daniel Richtman, who claimed the director had written and intended to pitch a Joker and Harley Quinn team-up movie to DC Studios. This rumor was quickly followed by a clarification from another scooper, Apocalyptic Horseman, who has a more consistent track record in the fan community. According to this second report, the script does not feature the iconic duo in leading roles at all.
“Just to be clear, there is no Joker & Harley movie in development, so don’t get the news mixed up,” Horseman stated. “This is something Zach basically wrote for fun, and as he said, he’ hasn’t pitched it anywhere. The script doesn’t even star Joker and Harley…it’s centered on a henchman.” This ground-level perspective could offer a unique look into the dark and violent world that Batman’s rogues create for the ordinary citizens and low-level criminals of Gotham. However, fans are being advised to temper their expectations for the project ever seeing the light of day. “This is something he did for fun and likely won’t get made,” Horseman added. “It’s not in development at DC, so don’t get your hopes up.”
While the new details provide a clearer picture of the script’s focus, Cregger himself first revealed its existence back in 2022. In an interview with ComicBook, he confirmed he had an unproduced script that he was incredibly passionate about, and that it was set in the world of Batman. “There’s a script I wrote before Barbarian that takes place, um, in Gotham City. And, uh, I actually love,” Cregger said then. “I think that’s my favorite thing I’ve written, believe it or not, so I don’t know what’s gonna happen with that. Nobody from Warner Bros. or DC. I have not talked to anybody about it. I hope to one day.”
These early comments confirm he wrote the script long before James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge of DC Studios and established their new DC Universe. They also underline that Cregger’s project was conceived as a standalone passion project, free from the continuity demands of a shared universe. While that might have been a major obstacle in the past, the current leadership at DC Studios has created a structure that could easily accommodate such a film. The studio has already signaled a strong appetite for genre storytelling with projects like the upcoming R-rated Clayface horror film, proving that not every DC movie needs to be a traditional superhero blockbuster. Plus, Gunn’s focus on director-driven stories, where the quality of the script is the most important factor, creates a potential opening for Cregger.
Even if Cregger’s Gotham script doesn’t fit the DCU overarching narrative, the story could still be approved through DC’s “Elseworlds” banner. This label was created specifically for projects that exist outside of the main DCU timeline, such as Matt Reeves’ The Batman – Part II, allowing the studio the flexibility to greenlight unique projects from visionary filmmakers without disrupting their carefully planned saga. An “Elseworlds” designation would allow Cregger to make his film exactly as he envisioned it, without needing to tie it into the overarching DCU narrative featuring other heroes and villains. Given Cregger’s rising status in Hollywood and his clear passion for this specific story, we might get to watch his Gotham movie, after all.
Weapons is scheduled to be released on August 8, 2025.
Would you watch a Gotham horror movie written and directed by Zach Cregger? Share your thoughts in the comments!
