Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars finished fifth in North America with $8 million during its opening weekend, despite playing in more than 3 thousand 300 theaters. With $11.3 million from international markets, its worldwide total remained at $19.3 million. Despite its budget of more than $80 million, the film received 40% on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ on CinemaScore. Leading actor Jacob Elordi plays a lonely man trying to survive with his dog and tracking a mysterious radio signal. According to RelishMix, audiences did not find the film original, comparing it to I Am Legend, Mad Max and The Road. The film, which brought in only $850 thousand from Thursday previews, failed to meet the $12-14 million expectation. Women under 25 accounted for 6% of the audience. The production is expected to become one of the biggest flops of Scott’s career. The Last Duel was also made for $100 million in 2021 and opened with $4.7 million.
Why it matters
The film’s performance shows that financial risk is a broader issue than its box-office ranking, given the significant gap between its production cost of more than $80 million and its opening weekend revenue. Low critic and audience scores reveal that, beyond its commercial outcome, the film also had limited resonance with audiences. Comparisons with films such as I Am Legend, Mad Max and The Road suggest that perceptions of originality may play a decisive role in audience preferences. The fact that women under 25 accounted for only 6% of the total audience provides concrete evidence that the film failed to resonate with this group. The results need to be assessed alongside the box-office problems faced by Scott’s previous high-budget productions.