Ari Aster Has Written a Hereditary Prequel - Scapegoat

Ari Aster dropped a line that will make horror fans sit up: he has written a prequel to Hereditary. Short sentence. Big implication.

Word of the script surfaced as reports linked Aster to a new film called Scapegoat, reportedly starring Scarlett Johansson and slated to begin shooting in November. Details remain foggy. Will it lean into psychological dread or lean toward something stranger, maybe even science fiction? Aster has been coy — and precise — about one thing: this is a prequel, not a follow-up.

"I wrote a prequel to that film, but I never had the right time to make it," Aster told an audience at a special screening of Hereditary at Metrograph. "It's a prequel, not a sequel, so I don't know where that project will go." The remark lands like a dropped key on familiar ground; it hints at a return to the world he built in 2018 while refusing to promise fans a direct continuation.

Why now? The timeline of Aster's upcoming slate has been a riddle. Months before Scapegoat entered the gossip loop, he mentioned he was developing three distinct projects: a sci‑fi film, a potential sequel to Eddington, and another horror piece. Scapegoat could be any of those — or something Aster penned quickly late last year when an idea demanded finishing.

There’s also a wider context. Aster used the occasion to applaud a fresh wave of indie horror talent. He singled out Kin Parsons and Kari Barker, praising Parsons' work in Blender as a distinct creative voice. "He's twenty and what he's doing with Blender follows a clear path and viewpoint," Aster said. "I’m excited to see where this stream of voices goes." Short, enthusiastic. Supportive.

He reflected, too, on the mixed fortunes of making Hereditary. The movie’s enduring popularity is a double-edged sword: it opened doors but also set a bar that shadows every subsequent release. Aster admitted that finishing the film under the pressure of a difficult financier was one of the darkest stretches of his life, even as the eventual success smoothed his career path. "I do feel more proud of each new film I make," he joked, "but I keep seeing a downward trend in the reactions." A self-deprecating aside. Honest and human.

Aster’s filmography is compact but jagged with risk: Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid, and Eddington. All of them are uneven in their own glorious ways, but Hereditary remains the lodestar — the work many point to as his most complete, most fully realized statement. That yardstick is both flattering and limiting.

For now, the news reads like a tease: a prequel written, a possible Scapegoat production with Scarlett Johansson on the horizon, and a director circling genres with restless curiosity.

Will Aster return to the specific terrors and bloodlines of Hereditary, or will he use that world as a springboard into something else entirely? If the man who gave us Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid has taught viewers anything, it’s that the next twist is never obvious — and that's precisely why so many of us are waiting.