The news that Ridley Scott’s next sci-fi movie The Dog Stars will be an original effort instead of an addition to the Alien franchise is secretly good, both for the director and the series. The Alien movies wouldn’t exist without Ridley Scott’s work on 1979’s Alien. Scott’s vision for the movie was as instrumental to its success as Sigourney Weaver’s performance or Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay.
That said, not all of Scott’s contributions to the Alien franchise have been unambiguously positive. His 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus complicated the lore of the series so much that it took 12 years before director Fede Alvarez managed to make sense of the franchise timeline again with 2024’s Alien: Romulus.
The Dog Stars Is A Better Sci-Fi Return For Ridley Scott Than Making Another Alien Movie
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Similarly, although 2017’s Alien: Covenant had its moments as a straightforward Alien movie, Scott’s David the android plot was left annoyingly unfinished. As such, it was not surprising when the director was rumored to be considering going back to the series. Scott has since said he doesn’t plan to do so, perhaps due to the upcoming Alien: Earth and Alien: Romulus’s success.
Scott is working on an adaptation of author Peter Heller’s 2012 post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel The Dog Stars.
The Alien franchise is clearly in good hands, with Alien: Earth bringing the series to the small screen for the first time, while Alien: Romulus was successful enough with critics and fans alike to spawn interest in a sequel. Meanwhile, Scott is instead working on an adaptation of author Peter Heller’s 2012 post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel The Dog Stars.
Set in the aftermath of a pandemic that has almost wiped out humanity, The Dog Stars centers on Jacob Elordi’s pilot and Josh Brolin’s stoic former marine, who try to find evidence of other human life while warding off invaders. Scott’s upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie has an impressive cast, but its biggest draw is its director.
|
Movie |
Box Office |
Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|---|
|
Alien (1979) |
$204 million |
93% Critics / 94% Audiences |
|
Aliens (1986) |
$183 million |
94% Critics / 94% Audiences |
|
Alien 3 (1992) |
$159 million |
44% Critics / 46% Audiences |
|
Alien Resurrection (1997) |
$161 million |
55% Critics / 39% Audiences |
|
Alien vs Predator (2004) |
$177 million |
22% Critics / 39% Audiences |
|
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) |
$130 million |
12% Critics / 30% Audiences |
|
Prometheus (2012) |
$403 million |
73% Critics / 68% Audiences |
|
Alien: Covenant (2017) |
$240 million |
65% Critics / 55% Audiences |
|
Alien: Romulus (2024) |
$350.9 million |
82% Critics / 88% Audiences |
The prospect of Scott returning to the genre for an original story is thrilling, considering the director brought viewers Alien, Blade Runner, and The Martian as his earlier forays into the genre. That said, the news that The Dog Stars will take precedence over any involvement in future Alien projects may seem disappointing to some.
The Alien mvoies are available to stream on Hulu.
Still, it is worth remembering that Scott’s recent Alien franchise additions weren’t the strongest in the series. Alien: Romulus was broadly seen as a step up from Alien: Covenant, proving that Scott might be better off tackling original sci-fi stories instead of revisiting his first major franchise again.
As such, the upcoming movie’s impressive cast and ntriguing, enigmatic synopsis are both great news for the director. Decades after Ridley Scott helped shape the Alien series, it is exciting to see him bring his unique vision to a whole new sci-fi saga in The Dog Stars instead of offering viewers more of the same.
