FIRST LOOK: ‘The Dog Stars’ — After Recent Misfires, Can Ridley Scott Deliver Another Great Movie?

Here’s our first-look images of Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars,” starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce and Benedict Wong (via Esquire).

In this Esquire interview, Scott reflects on surviving the Blitz as a child—singing “Old McDonald Had a Farm” under the stairs while bombs fell—and connects that memory to “The Dog Stars,” a post-apocalyptic story about finding purpose after catastrophe.

Set after a deadly pandemic, the film follows a pilot named Hig (Elordi), whose small comforts—his plane and dog—mirror Scott’s childhood coping mechanisms, while his interactions with guarded survivor Bangley (Brolin) and hopeful medic Cima (Qualley) explore why people keep living when the world seems lost.

Scott adds that “The Dog Stars” is not like all the other post-apocalyptic movies we’ve seen; this one centers on hope—how destruction can give way to renewal.

The directorial career of Scott is one you cannot help but respect with classics such as “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Gladiator,” and “The Duellists” under his belt. The legendary English-born filmmaker is turning 89 this year, and continues to plan future projects, including a film that will tackle the Blitz (“The Battle of Britain”).

Scott isn’t just a workaholic, churning out almost one movie per year, but in his nearly five-decade career he’s managed to release as many great films as he has mediocre ones. The fact that he still remains active, having survived the tumultuous, monopolized changes in the industry, feels like some kind of small miracle.

However, lately it hasn’t been all roses and peaches for Scott. He’s coming off three costly films that underperformed, both critically and commercially: “House of Gucci,” “Napoleon,” and “Gladiator II.” Five, if you include “The Last Duel” and “All the Money in the World,” which did earn somewhat positive reviews, but had little to no awards buzz.

In fact, Scott’s last big success came 11 years ago—that’s when “The Martian” was released, a Best Picture–nominated blockbuster that managed to gross $630M worldwide. With “The Dog Stars,” Scott will get another shot, but that August 28 release date does not spell confidence.