The last few years have been full of ups and downs for Ridley Scott, the sci-fi savant best known for his work on films such as Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator. Scott has been on hiatus from the sci-fi genre for almost 10 years after he last directed Alien: Covenant, the sequel to his Alien prequel film, Prometheus (starring Michael Fassbender). Scott’s last directorial feature came at the end of 2024 when he returned to the colosseum for Gladiator II, but the omission of Russell Crowe was hard for some fans to look past, and the film struggled at the box office under the weight of its bloated $250 million budget. Scott is sorely due for a box office hit, but only time will tell if his return to sci-fi with The Dog Stars will provide that, or if he’ll have to wait for his next feature outing.
If The Dog Stars doesn’t do well in theaters, it won’t be for lack of recognizable stars. Scott has enlisted some big names like Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin to star in key roles in The Dog Stars, with the supporting cast fleshed out by Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, and more. The review embargo for The Dog Stars was lifted this evening, and critics were finally able to share their opinions on the film via Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of writing, The Dog Stars‘ RT score is still developing, but reviews thus far have been fairly mixed. So far, out of 10 reviews, Scott’s return to sci-fi currently sits at 30%, placing it among some of the filmmaker’s lowest-rated projects. Collider’s review by Gabrielle Moss described the film as “an awkward marriage” between popcorn movies and sci-fi epics, earning it a 6/10. Other sites echoed this sentiment, with ScreenRant praising The Dog Stars‘ “stunning visuals” despite being “a bit slow,” while IGN branded Scott’s new film as “mediocre” and “baffling.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
What Is ‘The Dog Stars’ About?
The Dog Stars is set in a post-apocalyptic world where most humans have been wiped out due to a deadly virus. Hig (played by Jacob Elordi) is one of the few survivors, and while he still has his dog to cling to, he lost his wife in the chaos of the flu. The Dog Stars is based on the novel of the same name by Peter Heller, and news broke just this morning that purchases of the book are up over 300% in anticipation of the film. The Netflix film releasing this same weekend, The Whisper Man, is also experiencing a similar phenomenon — Alex North’s novel that inspired the thriller is seeing a surprising surge in purchases.
Check out The Dog Stars in theaters around the world this weekend and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Ridley Scott’s future projects.
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