Ridley Scott’s Post-Apocalyptic Epic ‘The Dog Stars’ Gets a Gripping New Trailer Ahead Of Its August Release

Ridley Scott has never been one to slow down, and at 88 years old, the legendary director is once again proving that his creative engine has no interest in idling. Fresh off the sprawling scale of ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Gladiator II,’ Scott is now turning his attention to a much more intimate and unsettling kind of story, one built around survival rather than spectacle.

That new project, ‘The Dog Stars,’ has been generating buzz for months, largely thanks to a stacked cast working from a story that feels uncomfortably close to real-world events. Based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name, the film imagines a world devastated by a deadly flu pandemic, a premise that has taken on new resonance for audiences living through the years following an actual global pandemic.

That premise is now on full display in the film’s latest trailer, released ahead of its August 28 theatrical debut. The footage introduces Jacob Elordi as Hig, a former civilian pilot who lost his wife to the virus that wiped out most of humanity, now sharing a hangar with his dog and his only real human connection, an ex-Marine named Bangley, played by Josh Brolin.

The new trailer leans further into the emotional core of the story than earlier footage did, opening with Elordi and Margaret Qualley as a married couple bringing home their dog before the world falls apart. Later, when Brolin’s Bangley asks what

Hig used to do before everything changed, Elordi’s character reflects on a simpler life, recalling kissing his wife, playing with his dog, and wondering every day how he got so lucky. That quiet moment stands in sharp contrast to the trailer’s final stretch, which shows Hig taking flight while being pursued by men on horseback who leap directly onto the wing of his plane.

Rounding out the cast are Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong and Allison Janney, adding even more depth to a story that blends survivalist tension with quieter character study. The screenplay comes from Mark L. Smith, the writer behind ‘The Revenant’ and ‘Twisters,’ giving the project a pedigree well suited to Scott’s brand of gritty, grounded genre filmmaking.

Elordi’s involvement in the film came together somewhat unexpectedly. Paul Mescal was originally attached to lead the project, reuniting with Scott after his role in ‘Gladiator II,’ but he exited the film in early 2025 due to scheduling conflicts tied to Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles biopics. Elordi stepped in shortly after, even as his own schedule remained packed with commitments to ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the third season of ‘Euphoria,’ with production on ‘The Dog Stars’ ultimately beginning in Italy in April of last year.

The shoot itself was reportedly no small undertaking, with filming taking place across multiple Italian locations including the Cansiglio forest, an area known for its dense woodland that helped bring the film’s ravaged, overgrown vision of the future to life. That commitment to practical, on location filmmaking fits Scott’s long standing reputation for favoring tangible environments over heavily digital ones whenever possible.

Given the film’s blend of pandemic era anxiety, survivalist tension and a cast this stacked, ‘The Dog Stars’ already looks like one of the more distinctive entries on Scott’s lengthy filmography. With its August release positioning it well ahead of the fall awards conversation, the film has room to build word of mouth over the summer before competing with heavier hitters later in the year.

Between Elordi stepping into his first true leading role and Scott continuing to churn out ambitious projects well into his eighties, ‘The Dog Stars’ is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing late summer releases on the calendar. Fans of Heller’s original novel will not have to wait much longer to see how faithfully the film captures its bleak but hopeful vision of survival.

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