Scarlett Johansson to Star in Ari Aster’s Next Film ‘Scapegoat’ for A24

Aster's fifth feature is another original idea that is keeping its plot under wraps.

Ari Aster just landed one of the biggest movie stars on the planet to lead his fifth feature. Scarlett Johansson will star in “Scapegoat,” which is set up at A24 and which Aster will write, direct, and produce, an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire.

If you thought there would be any plot details today about a new Aster joint, think again. Everything is under wraps for now, but Deadline, which first reported the news, reports that Johansson was Aster’s first choice for his latest idea.

Aster is producing with his partner Lars Knudsen for their Square Peg banner.

Johansson has a busy shooting schedule that includes the next “Batman” movie opposite Robert Pattinson and an “Exorcist” reboot for Universal. She’s set to be seen in “Paper Tiger” from James Gray at Cannes later this month, and she’s coming off having directed her own debut feature film, “Eleanor the Great.” She also in 2025 starred in “Jurassic World: Dominion” and appeared in Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme.” She’s as busy as they come.

Aster’s last feature “Eddington,” the neo-Western that was also a COVID-era parable, was pretty star-studded as well, featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone. That film made $13.7 million for A24 last year at the box office. A24 has released all of Aster’s movies dating back to his debut breakout “Hereditary” in 2018.

Johansson just recently lost the title of the highest-grossing movie star based on box office revenue to Zoe Saldaña after the release of the latest “Avatar” film, but Johansson at $15.4 billion is just another $70 million blockbuster short of catching up. Will an Aster film get her there? “Hereditary” made $90.3 million and “Midsommar” did $48.5 million. He’s moved away from the straight genre horror since then, and that’s made him more polarizing at the box office, but having a movie star of Johansson’s caliber involved never hurts.

Deadline first reported the news.