By Published Apr 18, 2026, 10:01 AM EDT Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
CinemaCon, the annual presentation where studios attempt to woo theater owners with their upcoming slate, always brings a laundry list of exciting announcements. There’s been a lot of buzz around the trailers for Tom Cruise’s Digger and , JackSepticEye is producing an animated Bloodborne movie, and we’ve been promised Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will be under three hours, which sounds like a hostage negotiation.
(as if there was any doubt it would happen), Paramount’s Call of Duty movie has a release date, and a few major players from The Lord of the Rings trilogy are confirmed to reprise their roles in The Hunt for Gollum. It’s also been confirmed that prequels to both Longlegs and Weapons are in development, with the former filling in the origin story of Nicolas Cage’s titular serial killer, and the latter filling in the origin story of Amy Madigan’s Oscar-winning witch.
These projects were announced so close together that it was impossible not to notice a pattern. , with Cage reprising his role and Osgood Perkins returning to write and direct, and Warner Bros. is backing the Gladys movie, . While Cregger won’t direct the prequel, he is co-writing the script with Zach Shields.
Both of these movies are cashing in on the popularity of a recent horror blockbuster by putting their scene-stealing villain in center stage. And not only that, both of these movies feel completely unnecessary. Characters like Longlegs and Aunt Gladys typically work better when they’re shrouded in mystery; if you explain who they are and where they came from, they lose their chilling mystique.
But also, both of these movies have the original creators involved, so there’s reason to have faith. They could turn out more like Pearl than Orphan: First Kill.
The Original Creators' Involvement Makes Me Hopeful About These Horror Prequels
Cregger and Perkins are two of the hottest horror auteurs in Hollywood right now. They could both do whatever they want in the industry right now, so it’s telling that these are the projects they’re drawn to. (The Flood, another exciting announcement from CinemaCon), and he’s been handed the keys to his favorite survival horror franchise. He’s not doing a Gladys prequel for the money, or the work; he’s doing it because he really has a story to tell, and more to say about that character.
The same goes for Perkins. He’s quickly become one of the most prolific filmmakers in the horror genre; in just the year-and-a-half since , Perkins has produced a movie, directed two more movies, and he’s got another one on the way. He doesn’t need to rely on the established Longlegs brand to score another gig. If he’s writing and directing any new movie, it’s because that’s the one he’s most passionate about right now, and that just happens to take the form of a seemingly pointless Longlegs prequel.
Longlegs & Weapons Aren't The Only Horror Villain Prequels Right Now
The back-to-back CinemaCon announcements of the Longlegs and Weapons prequels may have highlighted this weirdly specific trend, but they’re not the only horror villain prequels in the works right now. It: Welcome to Derry is going into its second season, and there’s a Crystal Lake show in the works about Jason Voorhees’ tragic childhood.
Hollywood’s new favorite thing to do is take a creepy horror villain and give them their own movie. These villain spinoffs can be great; the aforementioned Pearl is a perfect example, where taking the perspective of a psychopathic villain is much more disturbing than following a more traditional protagonist.
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