Ari Aster's fifth feature is taking shape. According to Deadline and The Wrap, Jacob Elordi is in negotiations to join Scarlett Johansson in Scapegoat, Aster's next film for A24. The director wrote the script and will direct. Lars Knudsen produces through Square Peg, the label behind all of Aster's previous work.
Plot details remain confidential. Reports vary: some describe the film as centering on a doctor who operates on an internet-famous patient. Others characterize it as a sci-fi romance. Others still say it is a more traditional drama. None of it has been confirmed. Shooting is planned for later in 2026.
Johansson was already attached to the project when negotiations with Elordi began. For Elordi, it extends a period of sustained momentum. He received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, and has Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights and Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars (releasing August 28) on his immediate slate.
For Aster, Scapegoat would be his fifth consecutive A24 feature, following Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid, and Eddington. He has not made the same kind of film twice.
