Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars Delayed as Jacob Elordi Movie Takes the Release Slot
20th Century Studios has pushed Ridley Scott’s sci-fi survival drama The Dog Stars out of its March launch, resetting the Jacob Elordi-led adaptation of Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic bestseller for a later date.
Ridley Scott just nudged his next sci-fi movie, The Dog Stars, down the calendar. Not a massive shock these days, but the new date does change who it is up against and how late into summer it lands.
The new date (and who it is staring down)
The Dog Stars was originally parked on March 27, 2026. 20th Century Studios has now moved it to August 28, 2026. That late-summer slot puts it in direct competition with the long-delayed Coyote vs. Acme and the Lily James-led Cliffhanger movie. If those actually stick, that is a spicy weekend.
What this thing is
It is an adaptation of Peter Heller's 2012 bestseller, a post-apocalyptic story that leans more intimate than bombastic. Scott is directing, with Mark L. Smith and Christopher Wilkinson writing the script. Jacob Elordi is out front, and the supporting bench is quietly loaded.
- Cast: Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong
- Writers: Mark L. Smith, Christopher Wilkinson
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Producers: Ridley Scott, Mark L. Smith, Michael Pruss, Cliff Roberts
- Executive producers: Peter Heller, Lily Brooks-Dalton, Brandon Scott Smith
- Companies: 20th Century Studios and Scott Free
The premise, straight from the logline
"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 befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he's flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound."
(That synopsis is via Letterboxd.)
Where Jacob Elordi is right now
Elordi is having a moment. He is currently up for two Golden Globes this cycle for leading roles in The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein. Next up, he stars opposite Margot Robbie in a new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and he is also set to return as Nate Jacobs in Euphoria Season 3.
Bottom line
Late August is a curious play for a prestige-leaning sci-fi drama, but Scott has turned unconventional slots into wins before. If the competition lands as scheduled, that weekend could get weird in a good way.