Gladiator II is still a couple of weeks away (our review arrives Monday), but already Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal are plotting their next collab. Despite reports of Scott’s next movie being his Bee Gees biopic, Deadline reports it could turn out to be The Dog Stars, a futuristic sci-fi film that Mescal is in final talks to lead.
Set up at 20th Century Studios, The Dog Stars is based on Peter Heller’s book set in the near future “where an unnamed pandemic has decimated American society. A civilian pilot lives a lonely life on an abandoned Colorado airbase with his dog and a tough ex-marine. The two men couldn’t be more mismatched but depend on each other to fend off roaming invaders. When a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside the pilot that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail.”
The script is being adapted by Mark L. Smith, best known for The Revenant and last summer’s blockbuster hit, Twisters.
Sounds like a sweet two-hander for Mescal and another A-list actor. Oh, and a cool dog, too. What’s not to like about this?
The plan is to shoot The Dog Stars next spring, and after that Scott will move on to his Bee Gees movie.
