Ridley Scott's 'The Dog Stars' earns $8 million in opening weekend
The post-apocalyptic action film opened fifth at the U.S. box office with $8 million, far below its reported $80 million production budget.
Ridley Scott's latest film, "The Dog Stars," opened this weekend with a domestic gross of about $8 million, placing fifth in the U.S. box-office rankings. The opening total falls short of the reported $80 million production budget, raising questions about the film's profitability.
The movie, distributed by 20th Century Studios, trailed "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," "Coyote vs. Acme," "The Odyssey" and "Insidious: Out of the Further" in the weekend box-office tally. It was released in IMAX venues but did not generate higher attendance than comparable releases.
The cast includes Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley. The film follows a series of recent Scott releases that have underperformed relative to their budgets, such as "The Last Duel" ($11 million on a $100 million budget), "Napoleon" ($61 million on $130 million) and "Gladiator II" ($172 million on $250 million).>
"We are pleased with the strong international response and will continue to support the film's rollout," a studio spokesperson said.
Industry analysts note that the opening suggests the film may need a robust international run or ancillary revenue streams to approach breakeven.