EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed writer-director Ari Aster, whose feature directorial debut Hereditary bowed last night in the Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight section. The genre pic, which stars Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne and received strong response at the premiere, is set up at A24.
Aster’s previous credits include the shorts The Strange Thing About the Johnsons and Munchausen, both of which he wrote and directed.
Hereditary centers on the Graham family, which begins to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. Even after she’s gone, the matriarch still casts a dark shadow over the family — especially her loner teenage granddaughter, Charlie, with whom she always had an unusual fascination. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.
Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd and Milly Shapiro also star and Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen and Buddy Patrick are producers.
Aster continues to be represented by Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Bloom Hergott.