Anything Ridley Scott does is heavily anticipated, so it’s not surprising that the director’s newest project has an all star cast. The upcoming summer release reunites Scott with Josh Brolin of Thanos and Goonies fame. This isn’t the first time Brolin has teamed up with the director, as the two previously worked together on American Gangster, but it sounds like it may be the first time he immediately regretted his decisions.
However, despite an amazing cast that also includes Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Allison Janney, Brolin nearly walked away from what he's called one of “most satisfying projects” he’s worked on. When the actor arrived in Italy, he was excited and eager to take on the role, but his first day didn’t go as he planned. So why did he try to quit Scott’s new movie after just one day? He explains to Empire:
Ridley was talking a lot of stories and not really rehearsing, and it bugged me out, and I got really scared. I went back, called my agent and said, ‘I want out. Something’s really wrong, and I’ve got to get the f--k out of here.’ Luckily my agent is a close friend and he said, ‘Rest for a day.’ I was like, ‘No, man, I know what the f--k you’re doing. It’s not one of those day-things.’ And I was right.
The director is known for his unconventional style, which is attributed to his desire to keep the immediate energy of a scene. This means there isn’t always a lot of rehearsal. The Dog Stars follows an apocalyptic world struggling in the wake of a deadly flu virus. The concept gives me 12 Monkeys vibes. However, I can’t think of anyone better to direct the book-to-screen adaptation by Peter Heller. (This isn’t the only adaptation in the works for the director, who more recently teamed up with Hugh Jackman for Treasure Island.)
In The Dog Stars, Brolin plays a gun-toting neighbor living near Elordi’s protagonist. It’s hard to imagine what would have happened if the actor had gone through with walking away from the project. He credits Scott for changing his mind:
[Ridley] goes, ‘Come here,’ and he brought me into his trailer, and played the scene we had just finished. It was a really good, very dynamic scene between me and Jacob, and he goes, ‘Okay?’ I go, ‘Okay,’ and then I started to feed off that.
The Dog Stars has already dropped an intense trailer that gives a sneak peek at the gritty apocalyptic world with little teases of the action to come. Elorid’s Hig is introduced, along with his plane, and a vivid exploration of how gritty the world has become. You even see Hig’s pet dog. Though any time a canine is in an apocalyptic movie, I’m instantly stressed thanks to I Am Legend.
The movie looks like it’s going to be as intense as it will be action-packed. Could this be Scott’s chance to finally get an Oscar? The director is known for his historical projects, so stepping outside of that genre could give him the right amount of attention. Ironically, this is the lesson Brolin has taken away from working on the film. He states:
It took about a day or two for me to really embrace that, and then I got super into it because it was stratospherically creative and stratospherically dangerous. It was like, ‘This is what I’ve been asking for but now I’m getting it, I’m fighting it, because there’s zero comfort in it.’ It became one of the more creative, satisfying projects that I’ve ever been involved with.
If Brolin had walked away, The Dog Stars would be a completely different film, and I think the actor would have regretted the decision. He has previously shared about enjoying work that is a little bit unconventional, such as when he dropped an F-bomb describing his time as Thanos. Wearing a onesie and a lot of dots was perhaps what he needed to step out of his comfort zone for The Dog Stars.
Brolin has a presence that works for any genre, but it always feels extra special to see the actor show up in sci-fi. While it may have taken him time to get into the rhythm of Scott's methods, I know fans are glad he stuck around.
The Dog Stars is set to hit theaters on August 28, 2026.
