Pedro Pascal's exit from Weapons causes cast shake-up, reveals director Zach Cregger

Pedro Pascal quits Weapons

Josh Brolin starrer horror mystery Weapons has recently hit the theatres. However, Josh was not the first choice to play the lead role. Instead, Zach Cregger, the writer-director of the film, offered the role to Pedro Pascal, but he backed out at the last moment.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zach explained why there was a change in casting. “I had a whole different cast for this movie. And then we had the strike, and Pedro Pascal’s schedule threw us into turmoil. I had to recast the entire movie.”

“The strikes delayed us, and then when you delay, people’s schedules get conflicts, and then you’re back at square one. I bear no ill will towards anybody… It’s like a domino effect. So I had to start over again," he mentioned.

Pedro was originally cast to play Archer Graff, the father of one of the lost children in the movie. Delays brought about by the industry strikes resulted in scheduling conflicts.

Pedro was not the only thespian caught up in the cast shake-up. Regular cast actors Brian Tyree Henry and Renate Reinsve also had to leave the project because of the same issues.

In spite of missing out on Weapons, Pascal has had a busy year, featuring in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, A24's Eddington, HBO's The Last of Us, and Celine Song's The Materialists.

The latest cast of Weapons now includes Josh Brolin as Archer Graff and Julia Garner as teacher Justine Gandy. Other important roles are Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.

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The movie opens on a chilling premise: seventeen kids disappear all at once at 2:17 a.m. in a small US town. As bizarre visions and mysterious links are revealed, the film unfolds through the eyes of parents, teachers, and locals, each providing disturbing clues that bring us one step closer to the horrific revelation. Weapons opens theatrically on August 8.