Hereditary rode a wave of word-of-mouth horror movie hype, building to a June release that proved profitable for indie producers A24, thus far earning $79 million worldwide off a purported $10 million budget. The film was the feature directorial debut of Ari Aster, who also wrote the script to dark horse hit. Consequently, A24 is wasting little time in getting Aster’s next effort off the ground, evidenced by a report that the film has already cast its female lead.
Florence Pugh will star in the untitled next feature film by director Ari Aster, reports Variety. That, however, will have to suffice regarding the details of Aster’s mystery movie, since even its plot is being kept under wraps at this time. The only thing we know is that, just as with Hereditary, Aster will direct the film and write the script.
With the selection of Florence Pugh as the lead actress, Aster’s movie lands itself a rising star. Pugh, an Oxford-born actress, is a relative newcomer, who put in a head-turning lead performance in the 2016 dark romantic drama (not connected to Shakespeare,) called Lady Macbeth, playing an oppressed young bride in 19th century England who engages in affair with an estate worker; an encounter that unleashes her sinister side, escalating the ordeal to a murderous plot.
Pugh was also seen in the 2017 Liam Neeson thriller The Commuter, a TV run on Netflix’s Marcella, coming off a film debut in The Falling, in which she co-starred opposite Game Of Thrones’ Maisie Williams. However, auspicious prospects reside on her backlog, with an upcoming television run on this year’s BBC/AMC miniseries Little Drummer Girl, a starring role in the 2019 Dwayne Johnson-co-starring comedy film, Fighting with My Family (a biopic about retired WWE wrestler Paige) and will join names like Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet in the director Greta Gerwig’s December 2019-scheduled Little Women remake.
We’ll clearly have to wait for further details about Pugh’s starring role in Ari Aster’s upcoming movie. However, we will keep you updated on those developments as they arrive.