Ella Purnell, Caleb Landry Jones Join Ari Aster's Scapegoat
Ella Purnell, Caleb Landry Jones and Samba Schutte have joined Scapegoat, the next film from writer-director Ari Aster for A24, as Deadline exclusively reported on 25 September.
The three new arrivals join Scarlett Johansson, Jacob Elordi and Jude Law, who were already attached to the project, according to the same report. The cast keeps growing. No release date or start of production date was given in the disclosed details. All three new castings were reported together.
Aster is directing Scapegoat from his own script, Deadline reported, which means he is responsible for both the story on the page and the work on the set. Lars Knudsen is producing through Square Peg, his production company. Character details are being kept under wraps, so no roles have been described publicly.
Plot details are locked down. The logline, the short summary studios normally use to outline a story, has not been shared. That leaves a clear but limited picture for anyone picking up the story for the first time: a new Aster film, backed by A24, with an ensemble that is still being assembled piece by piece.
Purnell, who leads Prime Video's Fallout, brings a recognisable streaming lead to the line-up, according to Deadline. Schutte plays Mr. Diabate in the Apple series Pluribus. Jones will appear in Arkasha Stevenson's untitled bachelor party horror film for A24, keeping him within the same studio family ahead of Scapegoat.
The latest announcement follows a slow build of casting news earlier this year. Johansson was first identified as the lead of Scapegoat in May, as Variety reported at the time. Elordi was then linked in talks to join alongside Johansson in August, as Variety reported, with Scapegoat described as Aster's next film. The September report confirms Elordi and Law alongside Johansson as established members of the cast.
What makes this stand out is the balance of the group. Purnell arrives with a current series lead. Jones and Schutte add further screen experience across television and film. For fans, this means three more names to learn before any footage, trailer or character description is released. No character names have been released.
