Out in August, Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley. And it has a trailer! Update: Ridley Scott is dipping back into sci-fi territory again, albeit sci-fi with a different tone from Alien, Blade Runner or even The Martian. Based on the book by Peter Heller, The ... The Dog Stars | Ridley Scott sci-fi gets a first trailer
Out in August, Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley. And it has a trailer!
Update: Ridley Scott is dipping back into sci-fi territory again, albeit sci-fi with a different tone from Alien, Blade Runner or even The Martian.
Based on the book by Peter Heller, The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic thriller that celebrates nature, planes, dog ownership, and throws in a bit of romance for good measure.
Years after the world’s population has largely been wiped out by a virus, lonely protagonist Hig (Jacob Elordi) maintains his 1950s Cessna airplane and flies around in it with his canine friend, Jasper. He lives on an abandoned airstrip with the monosyllabic Bangley (Josh Brolin), who’s good with guns and faintly intimidating. Bangley believes in living a solitary life and survival at all costs; Hig longs for friendship and connection. Then the discovery of a radio discovery prompts Hig to hop in his plane and explore further…
If the trailer below is anything to go by, it looks as though Ridley Scott has stuck fairly closely to Heller’s book, and Brolin’s perfect casting as the trigger-happy Bangley. It also seems as though screenwriter Mark L Smith might have added a bit more action when adapting the book, but then again, that could just be the magic of editing.
We wrote a whole thing about the original novel and what might have attracted Scott to it earlier this year if you fancy a read.
The Dog Stars is due out on the 28th August 2026.
Our original story follows…
23rd December 2025: Those looking forward to Ridley Scott’s latest foray into the sci-fi realm will have to wait a little longer: it’s been announced that The Dog Stars’ release has been pushed back. Originally scheduled to appear in cinemas on the 27th March 2026, the post-apocalyptic thriller will now appear five months later on the 28th August.
There is a potential upside to the move: its original release date placed it right next to MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary, due for release on the 20th March. Although it’s sci-fi of a rather different sort, it also could represent the kind of genre opposition that Scott’s film could well do without. Both are based on novels rather than part of some eye-grabbing franchise, and both will hope that the allure of their lead actors – and the track record of their filmmakers – will hook in audiences.
The Dog Stars is adapted from the novel by Peter Heller, and is set in a grim future where the planet’s population has been decimated by a pandemic. Jacob Elordi and Brolin star as Hig and Bangley – respectively, an aviator and an expert marksman. They’re lured out of their aircraft hangar refuge by a mysterious transmission, and it’s presumably then that they encounter the supporting cast – among them Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce and Benedict Wong.
Project Hail Mary, meanwhile, is based on Peter Weir’s novel (he previously wrote The Martian, which Scott adapted to spectacular effect) and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The latter have made such comedies as 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, and so their handling of the story – about a science teacher blasted into space on a mission to save humanity – is likely to be full of zest and uplift. Judging by the trailer, Ryan Gosling is on form as an everyman pushed well outside his comfort zone.
As posted by The Hollywood Reporter, The Dog Stars’ shift is one of several updates from Disney. Horror sequel Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come has been moved from its April release date to the spot vacated by Scott – so expect the Ready Or Not follow-up on the 27th March 2026 instead.
Looking further ahead, the release of Pixar’s Gatto – a film about a Venetian cat who makes friends with a musician – will now slink into cinemas on the 5th March 2027 rather than the 17th June 2027. Mark your diaries accordingly.
Next year is a rather exciting one for major sci-fi films. Besides The Dog Stars and Project Hail Mary, there are also new high-concept pieces on the way from Steven Spielberg, Gore Verbinski, Maggie Gyllenhaal and many more besides.
Do check out our list of anticipated 2026 sci-fi films if it’s your genre of choice.
