(Left) Margaret Qualley in ‘The Substance’. Photo: Mubi. (Center) Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure ‘Dune: Part Two,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Right) Guy Pearce in ‘The Brutalist’. Photo: A24.
Preview:
- Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin And Guy Pearce are joining ‘The Dog Stars.’
- They’ll appear alongside Jacob Elordi.
- Ridley Scott is in the director’s chair.
Ridley Scott has had something of a good news, bad news situation when it comes to working with actor Paul Mescal. On the good news front, ‘Gladiator II,’ which starred Mescal as Lucius, has become one of the biggest grossing films in the director’s career, with a worldwide total just shy of $500 million.
Yet on the bad news front, he’s had to find a replacement for Mescal on his next project, dystopian sci-fi drama ‘The Dog Stars.’ He has since locked in ‘Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi to lead that movie and is now bulking up the supporting cast.
After the world’s population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in a Colorado airplane hangar with his dog and a dour gunman he has… Read the Plot
Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce are all now making deals to appear in the movie, according to Deadline.
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What’s the story of ‘The Dog Stars’?
(L to R) Director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.
Based on a 2012 novel by Peter Heller, the ‘Dog Stars’ screenplay comes from ‘The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith and ‘Ali’s Christopher Wilkinson.
Elordi plays Hig, a crop duster pilot living on an abandoned Colorado airfield isolated in the foothills of a mountain range and the Great Plains and long deserted farm land and small towns. We discover that society has changed profoundly thanks to a ravaging virus. Whoever has survived strives to exist within these tragic circumstances.
Hig shares the spartan amenities of the base with a “Ranger” called Bangley, played by Brolin. They are obliged to tolerate each other in sharing and navigating this dangerous and uncompromising new world.
Daily but systematically, Hig pilots his 50 year old Cessna with his only friend, an elderly beloved dog named Jasper, his cockpit companion. Searching in ever widening diameters to find and replenish diminishing supplies, but most importantly “his quest” in believing in his question that there must be a world out there.
On his last and deepest “search,” he is obliged to crash land on a small ranch where he meets Cima, played by Qualley, an intern doctor, the daughter of a protective world-weary rancher, played by Pearce who fiercely guards his kin and “fortress.” This encounter evolves into a possible and intelligent future for all.
Where else have I seen Margaret Qualley?
Margaret Qualley in ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
Qualley is coming off her critically acclaimed role in the Oscar-nominated horror thriller ‘The Substance.’ While she may not have been Academy nominated herself, she’s scored plenty of attention for her role as “Sue,” the more youthful alternate wrenched from the body of Demi Moore’s Elisabeth.
The actor was also recently seen in ‘Kinds of Kindness’ and ‘Drive Away Dolls.’
She’ll next be found opposite Glen Powell in ‘Huntington’ and reunited with ‘Dolls’ director Ethan Coen for ‘Honey Don’t!’
What does Guy Pearce have going on?
(L to R) Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn in ‘The Brutalist’. Photo: A24.
Pearce has also been doing the awards rounds this year, as he’s Oscar nominated as Supporting Actor for hotly-tipped epic ‘The Brutalist.’
He has a few movies coming up, including horror thriller ‘The Woman in Cabin 10,’ psychological thriller ‘Killing Faith’ and mystery thriller ‘Blurred.’
There has also been persistent chatter about his returning for the sequel to 1994 Australian musical comedy ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert.’
Where else will we find Josh Brolin?
(L to R) Cath (Glenn Close), Moke (Josh Brolin), and Jady (Peter Dinklage) in ‘Brothers’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.
While the closest he’s gotten to awards season is his role as Gurney Halleck in ‘Dune: Part Two,’ Brolin has been plenty busy. He’ll next show up in ‘The Running Man,’ the new take on the Stephen King tale, this time directed by Edgar Wright.
Then there’s ‘Wake Up Dead Man,’ the latest ‘Knives Out‘ Mystery from director Rian Johnson featuring Daniel Craig as offbeat detective Benoit Blanc.
And finally, 2026 will see him appearing in ‘Weapons,’ the mysterious new horror from ‘Barbarian’ director Zach Cregger.
What else is Ridley Scott working on?
(L to R) Pedro Pascal, Director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.
‘The Dog Stars’ ramping up as the next movie that Scott will shoot (and it’s also listed as in pre-production on the IMDb.).
Yet he’s also got plan to make a Bee Gees biopic, something he has had sitting on his To Do list for a while now. And while there had been the chance that the biopic could leapfrog ‘The Dog Stars,’ more recent stories pointed to creative differences between the director and studio backers Paramount, leading to Scott kicking the idea lower down his schedule.
The Bee Gees film would re-team Scott with one of his collaborators on the original ‘Gladiator,’ writer John Logan.
And it’s far from the only movie the busy director has on his potential projects list –– there is a wealth of others, before we even mention the long batch of TV series on which he’s listed as producer. It’s a wonder the man ever sleeps.
When will ‘The Dog Stars’ land in theaters?
That’s a big question at this point. Since Scott has yet to fully start on either ‘The Dog Stars’ or his Bee Gees project, there is no telling when either might be released.
Still, given the prolific nature of the (checks notes) 87-year-old director, we wouldn’t be too shocked if at least one was ready for some point in 2026. Let’s not forget: this is the same filmmaker who has brought us three movies across the last four years.
Director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.
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