Ari Aster may have found the second lead for his next film, and it is not the pairing most people would have guessed. Jacob Elordi is in talks to star opposite Scarlett Johansson in Scapegoat, a new A24 project written and directed by Aster.
The news comes from Deadline, which reports that negotiations began last week. Elordi has not officially signed, so the careful wording matters: he could join the film, but the deal is not finished.
Aster is keeping the story private. Several possible descriptions have circulated online, including ideas involving a doctor, an internet-famous person, science fiction, and romance. Deadline says insiders do not agree on any of them. For now, none should be treated as the plot.
Elordi Is Choosing His Next Role Carefully
Elordi has spent the past year moving between very different projects. He earned an Oscar nomination for Frankenstein, returned for the final season of Euphoria, and starred opposite Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights. His next announced film is Ridley Scott's action thriller The Dog Stars.
Deadline reports that he took a break after the demanding Frankenstein production and had several offers available. Aster reportedly wanted Elordi for this specific part, and Elordi chose to begin negotiations rather than rush into another project.
That makes Scapegoat more interesting than a simple casting update. Elordi is coming off roles that asked him to be romantic, frightening, and physically transformed. Aster tends to push actors into uncomfortable emotional territory, so the collaboration could show another side of him.
Scarlett Johansson Is Already at the Center of the Film
Variety also reports that Elordi is in talks, while Johansson remains the confirmed star. Aster selected her earlier in the year as he prepared his follow-up to Eddington.
Johansson has spent years moving between large studio films and smaller projects that depend more on performance than spectacle. Scapegoat places her with a director whose movies usually leave their leads frightened, exposed, or morally compromised. Whatever the plot becomes, she is unlikely to be playing a relaxed bystander.
A24 will distribute the film, while Aster and Lars Knudsen are producing through Square Peg. A24 has released Aster's four previous features, giving the director room to make films that do not fit neatly into one genre.
That history also explains why the casting is drawing attention before the story is public. Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid, and Eddington all asked audiences to follow damaged people into situations that became harder to explain and more uncomfortable to watch. The actors usually carry the movie long before the full picture becomes clear.
Johansson and Elordi are recognizable enough to attract a wider audience, but neither choice feels like stunt casting. Both have taken roles that depend on silence, physical presence, and characters who hide what they are feeling. Those qualities fit a filmmaker who rarely tells viewers everything at once.
Scapegoat Is Still Mostly a Mystery
If Elordi's deal closes, production is expected to begin later this year. No release date has been announced, and there is no trailer, official synopsis, or first-look image from the movie.
The lack of detail is frustrating, but it also keeps the attention on the people involved. Johansson and Elordi bring very different screen energy, while Aster has built a career around making familiar situations feel deeply wrong. That combination is enough to make Scapegoat worth watching before anyone knows exactly what kind of movie it is.
