Ari Aster is apparently not wasting much time between projects. While the filmmaker has often spoken about the uncertainty of getting movies made, it sounds like he has a surprisingly full slate ahead of him.
During year five of American Cinematheque’s Bleak Week, which featured a retrospective of Aster’s work last week, the filmmaker appeared at the Los Feliz Theater for a Q&A following a screening of “Beau Is Afraid.” Moderated by fellow filmmaker Fede Álvarez, the conversation eventually turned toward the future and what Aster might want to make next.
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Aster, unsurprisingly, was not especially interested in framing the overall future in grand, optimistic terms
—perhaps not surprising given the political overtones and existential despair that went into creating his film, “Eddington.”
“I just find the idea of even believing that there will be a world in 10 years, like, really optimistic and bold,” Aster said, laughing off the premise. “Let’s pretend there is a world. Let’s pretend that there is a world for another 20 years. Okay, let’s pretend. Let’s make believe.”
But once he entertained the idea, Aster revealed that he already has several films in motion, including one set to shoot later this year.
He did not name the project, but the timing strongly suggests it could be “Scapegoat,” his next A24 film, which was reported in May with Scarlett Johansson attached to star. Aster wrote the original screenplay and will direct, with plot details still officially under wraps. However, recent rumors claim the movie centers on Johansson as a surgeon whose patient, a Jake Paul-inspired celebrity figure, dies during surgery, setting off a wave of scrutiny led by the character’s wife and brother.
“I’ve got a few films that I want to make right now,” Aster said about what’s in his queue. “I’m writing a third, but I’m shooting something this November, and I’ve got another one lined up. [I’m] writing something now that I might be able to do between them. I don’t know. Yeah, I just hope I can keep making movies.”
While Aster is keeping the details of the November shoot under wraps, “Scapegoat” is the obvious candidate, and if those rumors are correct, it sounds like he may be flirting with provocative culture war territory once again. Later in the conversation, Álvarez asked Aster about the fear of repeating himself, especially given the extremity and recurrence of his obsessions in his work. Aster said he tries to move into new territory without turning that instinct into a calculated career strategy.
“I don’t want to repeat myself, but I also don’t want to compromise or become too strategic,” Aster said. “I think I’m lucky that I really love genre because it is a harness for other things that I want to do that are maybe a lot harder to do,” he said. “And so I think I am just very fortunate that I like horror films. I like action films. And my imagination kind of naturally takes me in those directions.”
For Aster, the next few projects apparently came about in a similar way to his previous films: less as part of a master plan than as ideas that found him.
“I’ve been lucky that all the movies have kind of come to me,” Aster said. “I don’t sit at a table like, what am I going to do next? And so far, I haven’t had to. These next three films happened that way as well. So I’m very lucky in that sense.”
So, while Aster is keeping the details under wraps for now, fans may not have to wait long to learn what strange new nightmare, odyssey, or genre experiment he is cooking up next.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
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