Hereditary | Ari Aster says he’s written a prequel

Director Ari Aster says he’s written a prequel to his 2018 horror hit, Hereditary. But will he actually make it? The filmmaker’s most accessible film to date, the 2018 horror Hereditary put Ari Aster’s career firmly on the map. Since then, the writer-director has made a series of increasingly fascinating, genre-bending films: the trippy folk ... Hereditary | Ari Aster says he’s written a prequel

Director Ari Aster says he’s written a prequel to his 2018 horror hit, Hereditary. But will he actually make it?

The filmmaker’s most accessible film to date, the 2018 horror Hereditary put Ari Aster’s career firmly on the map.

Since then, the writer-director has made a series of increasingly fascinating, genre-bending films: the trippy folk horror Midsommar, the oedipal nightmare Beau Is Afraid, and the tech thriller western satire (?), Eddington.

It’s just possible, however, that Aster will return to Hereditary's familial horror territory. Last week, that 2018 film was screened as part of Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, a festival held in Los Angeles.

Aster showed up for a Q&A, where, pointing at the screen, he said, “I wrote a prequel to this.” The moment was captured by Gold Derby (and comes to us via Bloody Disgusting).

The filmmaker hints that he may have written the script some time ago, since he said that, “It never feels like the right time to do it. It’s a prequel, not a sequel, so I don’t know where this goes.”

Aster is currently busy on another movie – Scapegoat, starring Scarlett Johansson. Little else is known about it other than its title, lead actor and studio (it’s A24 again, who bankrolled Eddington and Beau Is Afraid).

Fascinating though they were, neither of Aster’s recent films made money in cinemas. Hereditary made nine times its $10m budget for A24, so the company would probably be quite enthusiastic about Aster making a safer bet in a fashionable genre.

Then again, looking at Aster’s body of work so far, it’s unlikely that he’ll make a straight, crowd-pleasing horror sequel.

We’ll bring you more on Aster’s antics as they come in.