Pedro Pascal, the much-loved star of shows such as The Mandalorian (2019–) and The Last of Us (2023–), will be appearing in the horror film Weapons, which will be made by the team behind the critically acclaimed Barbarian (2022).
Pascal, who has been acting since the late 1990s, climbed to the top of the most in-demand actors list ever since his appearance as Oberyn Martell during the fourth season of Game of Thrones in 2014.
The 48-year-old has since headlined widely praised movies and TV shows such as Narcos (2015-17), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022).
What to know about Weapons
What is the plot and what role will Pascal play?
According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), which first revealed that Pascal is part of Weapons, the story of the film has been kept a secret.
But the report compares the story to Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic 1999 masterpiece, Magnolia. It says that Weapons is “described as an interrelated, multistory horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia.”
Magnolia had an ensemble cast including Hollywood A-listers such as Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and John C. Reilly among others.
The report says that Pascal’s role in the film is not known.
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Team of Barbarian behind the project
Weapons will be directed by Zach Cregger, who has also written the script.
THR reported that the film will be produced by Cregger with Roy Lee, J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules.
The team was also involved in the Cregger’s directorial debut, Barbarian, which was produced on a budget of USD 4.5 million but became a smash hit and earned around 10 times more.
According to the report, Cregger’s popularity following the success of Barbarian led to a bidding war between Hollywood studios and streamers over the rights to Weapons. New Line emerged the winner. Its deal, as THR reports, includes theatrical release among other rights.
It is expected that the shooting of the film will start later in 2023.
What else will fans get to see Pedro Pascal in?
Pascal is already riding a wave of success in 2023 with The Mandalorian season 3 and the first season of the video game adaptation The Last of Us. For the latter, he recently won the Best Hero award at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
Apart from subsequent seasons of the two shows, he has a series of major films in his bag. Among them is Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls, which also stars Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Matt Damon among others.
He will be at the Cannes film festival in 2023 to attend the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life in which he co-stars with Ethan Hawke.
But perhaps his most eagerly anticipated project is Ridley Scott’s sequel to Gladiator (2000). Pascal is set to star alongside Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington in the film that is set for release on 22 November 2024.
(Hero image: Liane Hentscher – © HBO/IMDb; Featured image: IMDb)
