Casting coup: Jacob Elordi joins Scarlett Johansson sci-fi thriller from elite horror director
There’s now even more heat under the new Ari Aster genre-bender — and you’ll want to know what’s turned the dial.
If you want a masterclass in picking directors, look at Scarlett Johansson’s CV. Early in her career she was working with the likes of Robert Redford, the Coens, Sofia Coppola, Brian De Palma, Christopher Nolan—the kind of run that plenty of actors would sell their gran for. Once Marvel came knocking, she started juggling blockbusters with smaller, juicier projects, but if anything, her schedule’s madder than ever now she’s (probably) hung up the Black Widow catsuit for good.
Lately, it feels like Johansson is playing some sort of auteur Pokémon game—collecting directors as if she’s going for a full set. In just the last few years, she’s popped up with Wes Anderson, Gareth Edwards, Brad Bird, and James Gray, and apparently has new work lined up with Mike Flanagan and The Batman’s Matt Reeves. But the latest headline is that her next project—an A24 thriller called Scapegoat—just signed up Jacob Elordi, who’s barely had time to put his feet up lately himself.
Jacob Elordi joins Scarlett Johansson in Ari Aster’s Scapegoat, hot off the back of Del Toro’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars.
Aster’s Next Wild Card
This one’s coming from Ari Aster, who’s probably best known for Midsommar and Hereditary—both straightforward enough horror films, but his last couple (Beau Is Afraid and Eddington) were the sort of genre mash-ups that critics argue about for weeks. So the fact that Scapegoat is being officially labelled a “thriller” by the trades is about as helpful as calling a Rubik’s cube “a toy”.
We’re already getting conflicting takes on what the film actually is. Some sources are saying it’s about “a doctor who operates on an internet-famous person.” Others suggest it’s a “sci-fi romance.” And apparently, there are those claiming it’s “just an outright drama.” Classic Aster, really—turn up, make everyone guess for a year, then give us something no-one predicted.
The Elordi Effect
Jacob Elordi joining the cast is a proper coup. After his breakout in Euphoria, he’s been stacking bold choices. Recently, he was in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (where he hoovered up all sorts of awards buzz), and this summer sees him starring in The Dog Stars, Ridley Scott’s first trip back to sci-fi since Alien: Covenant in 2017.
Ridley Scott returns to science fiction after nearly a decade with The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi.
On top of that, Elordi played Elvis (of all people) for Coppola’s Priscilla and seems to be popping up in every other ambitious director’s imagination. There’s even talk that he could be the next James Bond, though, ironically, the 007 producers normally like their new Bonds just shy of megastardom—and Elordi might have already shot past that stage. Timing is everything, apparently.