Jacob Elordi can’t save The Dog Stars

Photo by Ent Movie/Alamy Ridley Scott doesn’t stop. His current projects in various stages of development include Gladiator III , an adaptation of Treasure Island with Hugh Jackman as Long John Silver, a biopic about the BeeGees, a Western called Freewalkers and a First World War movie, Covenant with Death. Meanwhile, here, at the age of 88, he presents his thirtieth feature. His last two films were epic messes, Napoleon in 2023 and Gladiator II in 2024, the former taking a mere $224 million at the box office, the latter scoring $462 million. The Dog Stars , an adaptation of a 2012 post-apocalyptic novel by Peter Heller, turns out to be a much more modest, slower, almost ruminative adventure, even though almost every incident is hyped up from the novel. Subscribe to the New Statesman this summer - 2 months for only £2 Related