Ridley Scott’s Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Thriller Officially Arrives on Digital

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

Weeks after ending its theatrical run, Ridley Scott‘s latest film is set for a PVOD debut. The movie was released at the end of August, and had mostly wrapped up its box-office run by mid-September. It marks Scott’s long-awaited return to the genre that he is most commonly associated with, arriving nearly a decade after the sci-fi horror film Alien: Covenant. A few weeks before the film’s release, another legendary director made a sci-fi comeback with a movie that fell short of box-office expectations. But that film — Steven Spielberg‘s Disclosure Day — seems like a blockbuster compared to Scott’s new sci-fi flop.

Starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin, the post-apocalyptic epic cost around $100 million to produce. This is a budget range that Scott has thrived in, having made hits such as Gladiator, The Martian, and Prometheus for roughly the same amount. In recent years, however, Scott’s luck at the box office appears to have run out. He hasn’t released a bona fide hit since 2015’s The Martian, which grossed around $630 million worldwide, but has delivered high-profile misfires such as Exodus: Gods and Kings, All the Money in the World, Napoleon, and The Last Duel. His most expensive movie, Gladiator II, wasn’t successful enough to justify its reported $300 million-plus budget. It barely matched the performance of the original Gladiator, which was released a quarter-century earlier.

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

• You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
• You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
• You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
• The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.

The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

• You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
• You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
• You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
• In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

• You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
• In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
• You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
• In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

• Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
• You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
• Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
• In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

• You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
• You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
• You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
• In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

Here’s When You Can Watch Ridley Scott’s Box-Office Bomb at Home

But we’re talking about The Dog Stars, which made under $40 million worldwide. Also starring Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce, the film opened to mixed reviews. It’s now sitting at a 41% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “A derivative and drowsy tour through the post-apocalypse, The Dog Stars‘ lush visuals can’t compensate for its listless narrative and underpowered pacing.” The movie will be released on the PVOD market on October 27, after a lengthy theatrical window that it didn’t capitalize on. Meanwhile, Scott has commenced work on his upcoming epic, Treasure Island, starring Hugh Jackman. He has also expressed interest in returning to the Alien franchise with a direct follow-up to Prometheus and Covenant. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

The Dog Stars