SNAPSHOT
Set in Colorado after the world’s population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in an airplane hangar with his dog and a door gunman he has befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through on the radio while he is flying his old Cessna, it sparks a hunt for the provenance of the sound. The Dog Stars is directed by the prolific, acclaimed British filmmaker Ridley Scott, director of many iconic films including Alien, Prometheus, Alien Covenant, The Martian, Gladiator, Robin Hood, American Gangster, Matchstick Men, The Counselor, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, Legend, Exodus: Gods and Kings, All the Money in the World, The Last Duel, House of Gucci, Napoleon, and Gladiator II previously. The screenplay is written by Mark L. Smith (of Vacancy, The Hole, Martyrs, The Revenant, Overlord, The Midnight Sky, Twisters). Adapted from the novel of the same name written by Peter Heller. Produced by Michael Pruss, Cliff Roberts, Ridley Scott, Mark L. Smith. (courtesy First Showing)
One of the things I love about flying is picking up books at airport, even when, as always, I have one or two in my backpack.
Back in 2016, on a trip to one of my favourite places, Tasmania, I picked up Peter Heller’s brilliantly good novel, The Dog Stars, just before I left Hobart for Sydney.
I am so glad I did because as I noted in my review of the book, what distinguishes Heller’s novel from so many other end-of-the-world stories is that it offers up hope as a prevailing motivator in a world long shorn of it by apocalyptic trauma.
It dared to throw some relatable humanity into the usual mix of violence and hopelessness and to dare to imagine that after everything ends, maybe it can begin again, just differently.
It will be exciting to see what the great Ridley Scott does with such rich source material.
The Dog Stars releases 27 August in Australia and 28 August in U.S.