Ridley Scott Is Finally Making A New Sci-Fi Movie
The trailer for Ridley Scott's latest movie brings Jacob Elordi to the post-apocalypse.
There are some directors who are just synonymous with a certain kind of movie, even if that’s not the only genre they create. When you think John Carpenter, you think horror. When you think M. Night Shyamalan, you think twist endings. And when you think Ridley Scott, you think sci-fi. Sure, he’s made some amazing epics like Gladiator or adventures like Thelma and Louise, but sci-fi is his trademark, and his influence on the genre is inarguable: from Alien, to Blade Runner, to The Martian.
He may be 88 years old, but Scott’s not stopping yet. His next movie is The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic adventure based on the book by the same name by Peter Heller. At CinemaCon 2026, 20th Century Studios released the first trailer at the movie, starring Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Josh Brolin. Take a look at the trailer below:
“So what’d you do before the world ended?” Cima (Qualley) asks Hig (Elordi) “I was kissing my wife, playing with my dog,” he responds. “Wondering every day how I got so lucky.”
But this new world is very different. After a flu has eviscerated humanity, Hig, Cima, and ex-Marine Bangley (Brolin) join together and set out in search of a better life, all thanks to Hig’s Cessna plane. The movie also stars Guy Pearce as Cima’s father, as well as Allison Janney, and Benedict Wong.
The Dog Stars will be Scott’s first sci-fi movie since 2017’s Alien: Covenant, and it may be his last for a good while. While he’s attached to multiple upcoming projects, most of them are period films or thrillers, so this is a rare event. The script is written by Mark L. Smith, the scribe behind The Revenant and Twisters. He himself has some sci-fi experience, as he wrote the 2020 George Clooney movie The Midnight Sky.
If Hig’s dog Jasper doesn’t make it to the end of the movie, I will riot.
Peter Heller’s book is known as a stellar entry in the “postapocalit” genre, and with Ridley Scott’s iconic vision, this could be a major milestone for the director. The movie is currently slated for release in August 2026, so it’s only a few months until we see another chapter in one of the most esteemed and diverse filmographies in Hollywood.
We may not know much about this movie, but there’s one big question looming over every second of the trailer: is the dog, Jasper, going to make it to the end? There are too many genre movies where the dog is treated as a casualty to raise the emotional stakes. But this dog is different — “dog” is even in the title. Hopefully, Jasper can make it to whatever better world his owner is seeking out.
