“The Dog Stars” is the latest sci-fi thriller from Ridley Scott, a filmmaker who has remained restlessly productive deep into a career already defined by landmarks like “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” and “Gladiator.” In a recent interview, Scott suggested that longevity, at least for him, has come down to discipline, preparation, and an increasingly precise command of his own process.
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“What happens—providing you sustain all your marbles—is that you refine your game,” Scott said last year. “I can now work with eight to 11 cameras. I finished my latest film in 34 days. It would normally be 60. Gladiator was 48; normally, 100. I’ve learned to formulate and predetermine, plan on paper, and storyboard in my head. That’s why it’s so efficient.”
Scott has gone even further in discussing the film, saying he believes “The Dog Stars” may be his best work yet, crediting both the cast and the film’s pace. Whether that proves true or not, the larger point is that Scott is still working at a speed and scale that most directors half his age would struggle to match.
The film stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong. The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith and Christopher Wilkinson. Producers include Michael Pruss, Scott, Cliff Roberts, and Smith, with executive producers Brandon Scott Smith, Marco Valerio Pugini, Peter Heller, Aidan Elliott, and Lily Brooks-Dalton. The film is based on Heller’s novel.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future after a deadly virus has devastated humanity, “The Dog Stars” follows Hig, a pilot who survived the flu but lost his wife. He lives in an abandoned hangar with his dog and an eccentric ex-Marine, fending off roaming scavengers known as Reapers. When a mysterious radio transmission breaks through, Hig begins to imagine that something better might still exist beyond the life he has carved out.
Earlier today, during its CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas, 20th Century Studios unveiled the film’s first trailer and poster. The studio’s official logline describes “The Dog Stars” as a large-scale survival thriller centered on Hig, who sets out into the unknown after a radio signal offers the possibility of hope—and of other people still worth finding.
20th Century Studios will release “The Dog Stars” in theaters on March 27. Watch the first trailer below.
