Viewers of the newest hit horror film Weapons have made a major realisation about one of the movie’s bizarre viral moments.
Weapons follows a mystery in which all but one member of a class of third graders get up at 2:17 one night and run off into the night.
Directed by Barbarian writer-director Zach Cregger, the film debuted with a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and still sits at a very impressive 95%. The horror has also had one of the biggest openings of the year, grossing a massive $42,500,000 domestically and $70,000,000 globally.
Starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, and Amy Madigan, the film’s star-studded cast has been getting plaudits across the board.
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One particularly bizarre scene in the film, however, has received a great deal of viral attention online
Benedict Wong plays Marcus Miller, the school’s principal who supports Garner’s Justine Gandy throughout the film.
Roughly halfway through, we are shown an insight into his domestic life, shopping with his husband before the pair sit down with a snack platter to watch some TV.
On the platter for two people are some crisps, carrots and dip, some cookies and, of course, seven hot dogs.
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This moment has led to several people online discussing the unacknowledged moment - but it has a hidden, tragic meaning which points to the story which inspired the movie.
Film Critic Courtney Howard posted on X saying: “The seven hot dogs thing in Weapons is a tribute to Trevor Moore.”
Prior to working as an acclaimed horror director, Zach Cregger was one of the many creatives to start in comedy.
Cregger helped start the comedy group Whitest Kids U’Know with several friends, including comedian Trevor Moore.
One of their most popular sketches was ‘Hot Dog Timmy’, in which a doctor tries to identify what’s wrong with a patient to discover they eat seven hot dogs a day.
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Moore died in 2021 in an accidental fall, something which Cregger has stated inspired the movie.
Speaking about this with Rolling Stone, Cregger spoke about how Moore died when he had been working on the postproduction for his last film, Barbarian.
He said that, in his grief, he began a ‘blitz of writing’, before adding: “Over about two weeks or so… I just started, sentence one: ‘This is a true story. Half of my hometown, all of these kids bailed.’ You know, I’m writing this cold open, and I don’t know where the kids went... Look, like the rest of the world, I don’t want to watch another horror movie about grief.
“That whole horror-as-a-metaphor-for-grief is so f**king played out. I shouldn’t even be talking about this, but I can’t help myself. I don’t care if anybody gets any of that when they watch it.”
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He recounted speaking to fellow horror director Ari Aster, who encouraged him to use ‘the personal stuff’, before adding: “Hearing him say that… it’s part of the DNA of Weapons. The town is dealing with a loss. And so was I. It was the biggest direct hit I’d ever taken.”
Weapons is available to watch in cinemas now.
Topics: TV and Film, Film, Viral
Michael Slavin