Ari Aster Confirms Hereditary Prequel But Reveals There’s No Future Yet

Eight years after Hereditary redefined what horror films could be, Ari Aster has revealed he has written a prequel, but with no timeline, no studio, and no certainty it will ever be made. The revelation came during Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, the American Cinematheque’s annual festival of downbeat cinema, where all four of Aster’s films: Midsommar: Director’s Cut, Beau Is Afraid, Eddington, and Hereditary, were screened as part of a retrospective.

During the Q/A session for the movie at the same, the director went on to make this huge admission on the future of the film and said (via Gold Derby),

I wrote a prequel to this.

The film was released in 2018 under the A24 banner. Here is everything he said!

Ari Aster Breaks His Silence On Hereditary Prequel

This confirmation in and of itself is enough to send the horror realm spinning, but here context is important. No time frame, studio, or even solid intent has been tied to the project. The screenplay is written, but was said to be languishing in a drawer with no known destination, awaiting. Ari Aster said during American Cinematheque Bleak Week held on June 7, 2026,

It never feels like the right time. It’s a prequel, not a sequel so I don’t know where this goes.

Such an extensive mythology still has unexplored avenues that Ari Aster could be exploring. The movie focused on Annie Graham’s mother, Ellen, who was the leader of a pagan sect long before she set about summoning the demon king Paimon.

Ellen had spent generations preparing to receive Paimon in a male’s body within their bloodline, manipulating her son-in-law and grandchildren as pawns for a decades-long ritual. A prequel could show fans why Ellen was the psychic leading the coven, her relation to Joan, the initial forays of Paimon’s summoning, and the ruthlessly calculating choices she had long ago made before Annie memorialized her as that bitch who raised her.

The film, grossed over 90 million against its 10 million budget (via Box Office Mojo, as of June 9, 2026) and starred Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, and Ann Dowd. After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, it has become one of the most highly praised releases by A24.

During the same event, Aster reflected on the current wave of young indie horror filmmakers. He singled out Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old director behind A24’s Backrooms, a feature born from a viral YouTube series made using Blender and Unreal Engine, and Curry Barker, director of breakout hit Obsession, saying:

This is a really interesting month with Curry and Kane. He’s really interesting. He’s 20 years old and what he’s been doing on Blender, I think he’s clearly following a vision. I’m thrilled to see that.

Whether that climate is enough to finally pull the prequel out of the drawer remains to be seen. What is clear is that the commercial appetite for bold, outsider horror has rarely been stronger, and if any project could meet that moment, a return to the world of Hereditary might be it.

What do you think Hereditary Prequel could be about?

Hereditary is currently available to stream on Netflix and Prime Video.