‘The Dog Stars’ Test Screenings Underwhelm as Ridley Scott’s $100M+ Drama Faces Hurdles

I won’t get too into the weeds of the issues currently plaguing “The Dog Stars,” directed by Ridley Scott, which has tested a handful of times and recently switched release dates — it’s now set to open during the lonely final days of summer on August 28.

However, I will redirect you to a test reaction The InSneider posted last night, which does sum up well what I’ve been hearing are the main issues this film is facing. The opening paragraph goes like this:

I saw Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars,” and I hate to say it, but it’s time for Sir Ridley to retire. He won’t… but he should.

Yikes. This film follows Scott’s “Napoleon” and “Gladiator II,” each carrying price tags north of $200M, and both failed to light up the box office. The filmmaker also seems to have lost favor with critics, as his last legit Oscar contender was “The Martian,” released almost 11 years ago — although I do find 2021’s “The Last Duel” to be an underrated gem in his canon.

Regardless, 20th Century has been testing “The Dog Stars” since October, and “boring” is the word that seems to continuously be referenced when describing this film. The attendee questioned by The InSneider says the cast isn’t the problem; Jacob Elordi and especially Josh Brolin deliver the goods, as do Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce. It’s more the direction and story that are the issue here.

The problem is that this is a folk-y story that just hums along with no particular sense of urgency. There’s an upsetting moment at the end of the first act, and minimal action after that, before the film ends rather abruptly. I was left shrugging my shoulders and saying, ‘That’s it? WTF?’ It felt like it was missing 20-30 minutes, and by the end, I wasn’t sure what the point of the story was, or why this film was made.

This is an adaptation of Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel. Scott is directing from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith (”The Revenant,” “Twisters”). Harry Gregson-Williams (“Gladiator II”) is the composer. Erik Messerschmidt is the DP.

Elordi stars as Hig, a widowed pilot navigating a world ravaged by pandemic. Living in near-isolation in an airplane hangar with only his dog and a hardened gunman for company, his solitary life is disrupted when a mysterious radio transmission sparks a journey into the unknown.

Has Scott lost the plot? Should he have made his “Bee Gees” biopic instead of this one? The decision to slot the film into a Labor Day weekend release now feels telling, if not inevitable, given the challenges it has faced since early development. The production budget is most likely $100M+, and 20th Century is in a difficult position.

Meanwhile, Scott continues to praise himself. In one of his more recent interviews, he hyped himself up as being “born with a good eye,” and called “Dog Stars” “maybe my best movie.” Don’t take that assertion too seriously — Scott said the same thing about “Gladiator II,” and we all know how that one turned out.