Ridley Scott’s $100M Sci-Fi Dud Officially Redeems Itself on Streaming

1 week ago 29

Published Oct 31, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

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.

20th Century Studios clearly overestimated the theatrical potential of Ridley Scott's latest film, his long-awaited return to the sci-fi genre. The movie drastically underperformed at the box office, emerging as one of Scott's biggest bombs. The legendary filmmaker will hope that it finds an audience at home, and early signs are positive. The movie debuted on the PVOD market this past week and instantly emerged as one of the most popular titles domestically. Starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, among others, the film was produced on a reported budget of around $100 million. Scott has delivered several hits in this budget range, including his highest-grossing hit, The Martian.

His previous most recent sci-fi movie, Alien: Covenant, was also produced on a reported budget of around $100 million. It ended up grossing around $240 million worldwide, which was deemed not robust enough to warrant a sequel. Scott is finally working on a follow-up to that film, now that the Alien franchise is on more solid ground following the success of Fede Álvarez's horror-tinged hit Alien: Romulus and Noah Hawley's FX series Alien: Earth.

Ridley Scott's New Movie Received Mixed Reviews

Scott's latest film, of course, is The Dog Stars. Also featuring Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce, the dystopian film grossed less than $40 million worldwide, falling drastically short of production costs. It's Scott's lowest-grossing film since The Last Duel, which was released in 2021. In the last decade, Scott has had several setbacks at the box office, from the mid-budget drama All the Money in the World to the mega-budget historical epic Napoleon. Like those movies, The Dog Stars received 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." According to FlixPatrol, the movie has found early success on the domestic Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play charts. You can now check it out at home while Scott works on his next project, an adaptation of Treasure Island starring Hugh Jackman. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.