Ridley Scott is pressing ahead with The Dog Stars, adding Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce to the cast.
During his press tour for Gladiator II, Ridley Scott revealed to Film Stories that a sci-fi project had been added to his upcoming slate, that was going to be a quick reunion with Paul Mescal. However, it would later emerge that Mescal had left the project because of his commitment to playing one of the Fab Four in Sam Mendes’ upcoming films based on The Beatles.
Still, the project is The Dog Stars, and it’s coming next from the bearded one.
Last month, Jacob Elordi would be announced as the new lead actor in The Dog Stars, and now we have a pretty good idea of the film’s supporting cast too. Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce are all (according to The Hollywood Reporter) in final negotiations to join the cast, adding some serious acting firepower to the ensemble.
Qualley had a momentous 2024, starring in a string of projects from esteemed auteur filmmakers, including Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls and featuring in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness too. 2025 will see collaborations with Richard Linklater and Ethan Coen again, not to mention a role in Adam Sandler’s return to golfing comedies with Happy Gilmore 2.
As for Brolin, we’re just happy he’s signing up at all. The actor recently jokingly threatened retirement if Denis Villeneuve wasn’t nominated for a Best Director gong at this year’s Oscars. When a nomination never materialised, Film Stories did a whip round and got a Happy Retirement card but with this happy news it looks like we can pop it back in a drawer somewhere.
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Brolin already has a trio of exciting films on his slate, with Edgar Wright’s The Running Man and Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man coming later this year. Then there’s Zach Cregger’s Weapons, set for a 2026 release. Now we can add a collaboration with Ridley Scott to that list.
Finally, there’s Guy Pearce, who recently revealed his (unjustified) disappointment in his performance in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, but who’s spent the last 25 years working with a string of other high-profile filmmakers, including Brady Corbet in his multi-Oscar-nominated drama, The Brutalist. We’re intrigued to see him in the lead role for Ben Cookson’s Blurred, which releases later this year.
As for The Dog Stars, here’s a quick synopsis:
‘Based on the Peter Heller 2012 apocalyptic thriller novel, the story unfolds in a near future where an unnamed pandemic has decimated American society. A civilian pilot (Elordi) lives a lonely life on an abandoned Colorado airbase with his dog and a tough ex-marine. The two men, though mismatched, depend on each other to fend off a roaming band of scavengers called Reapers.’
This one is really starting to come together nicely. When we do hear more, we’ll let you know.
