We’re finally getting a look at Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic The Dog Stars, featuring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong. The images were provided by Esquire from a new profile on the anticipated film, which has been the subject of some interesting buzz over the last few days.
Based on the Peter Heller novel, adapted by The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith, The Dog Stars is a story that Scott feels a close personal connection with.
“I was a war baby. So in a funny kind of way, that leaves a mark on your DNA,” Scott says. “When I was sitting under the stairs, while we were bombed at night by the Nazis, we were singing ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’ and hoping we never got a direct hit.”
Scott also says that what drew him to The Dog Stars is that it’s different from other post-apocalyptic films in that it’s about hope, not destruction…
“I think there’ve been rather too many apocalyptic movies,” Scott said. “And I think I started off with a pretty tough one doing ‘Blade Runner’ years ago. There was no end to the grimness of ‘Blade Runner.’ In this, what I’m so pleased that came off was the strong feeling of hope. ‘It’ll be okay.’ If you do the right thing, it calls to mind the expression: God helps those who help themselves.”
Interesting thoughts from the man behind Blade Runner and Alien, two of the all-time great, bleak sci-fi joints.
Here’s how the report describes The Dog Stars: A story set in the aftermath of global destruction. In this case, it’s not war but a lethal pandemic that has swept most of humanity off the globe. A few stragglers survive, including Elordi’s Hig, a pilot who has a single-engine Cessna he calls The Beast, a loyal blue heeler mutt named Jasper … and not much else. The dog and the plane are Hig’s version of singing “Old McDonald”—small comforts to keep him going when all seems lost.
So back to that buzz…it ain’t been good. Some reports are claiming that early test screenings have not gone well, with the common complaint being that it’s kinda tedious. Take these reports with a grain of salt, but as we all know, bad buzz usually impacts how a film does at the box office. And considering The Dog Stars cost somewhere around $100M, that could be a disaster. After a few delays, we can expect to see it in theaters on August 28th, so we won’t have to wait much longer. Presumably, a trailer will arrive soon.
