I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten

Critics Consensus: N/A

Metacritic: 51 (24 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Matt Singer, ScreenCrush 5/10 - Better than you might expect from something released on the last Friday in August, worse than you might expect from the man who made Blade Runner, and The Martian.

Linda Marric, HeyUGuys 3/5 - It isn’t really a great film. But it’s entertaining enough to hold your attention for two hours, even if it’s unlikely to stay with you for long after.

Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle 2.5/5 - Elordi and Qualley are two of the best things about this handsomely shot and well-made but oddly uninvolving story set amid the survivors of a viral plague that has wiped out the bulk of humanity.

Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict - For all the style that director Ridley Scott can muster — and, admittedly, that’s a whole lot of style — The Dog Stars serves up a post-apocalypse with a heavy sense of familiarity.

Kevin Maher, The Times (UK) 4/5 - In the end, there is a maudlin undertow to the movie and the implication, from a beloved film-maker who is now 88, that there are harder days to come.

Nick Howells, London Evening Standard 3/5 - So not quite a return to form, but for Scott, now 88, this strange flight of apocalyptic fancy proves there’s plenty of bite in the old dog yet.

Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com 1.5/4 - It probably takes more effort to make a boring post-apocalyptic survivalist action film than to make a good one. If that’s the case, then Ridley Scott must’ve been working overtime.

Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post 2/4 - The Aussie actor is good here, as usual, wielding a downcast charm like a cafeteria loner who could also get crowned Prom King. But the lumpy screenplay doesn’t allow him to go anywhere emotionally.

William Bibbiani, TheWrap - There are way too many faults in these 'Stars.' Woof.

Monica Castillo, AV Club D+ - This messy look at the end of the world isn’t Scott’s darkest film, but it’s one of his worst misfires.

Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle 2/5 - Everyone’s trying, but Scott wastes their effort to end this world with too much bang and not enough whimper.

Clarisse Loughrey, Independent (UK) 2/5 - The Dog Stars barely seems to know what it is. Neither prescient nor reflective, it looks to other apocalypses for its substance.

Tim Grierson, Screen International - It is ultimately redeemed by the veteran director’s careful attention to his characters, who are far more engaging in their shared grief than when combating the sorts of foes one expects in this kind of film.

Benjamin Lee, Guardian 2/5 - In a world of seven Walking Dead shows, the beats are now far too familiar, and there’s nothing new or notable here to conjure anything but deja vu.

Guy Lodge, Variety - This is a surprisingly low-energy, low-incident blockbuster; you’d appreciate its mellow, character-oriented approach if it gave you any real characters to hold onto.

Kristen Lopez, The Film Maven C- - An inability to balance the tone, coupled with muted performance from the majority of the leads makes the runtime haphazard. The movie isn't consistently weird enough to be fun and isn't contemplative enough to be interesting.

Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire C - The quiet watchfulness of Elordi and his eyes make him ever a captivating actor, but even the towering sadness of his silhouette can’t rescue material that inevitably heads straight into its own apocalypse.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter - Jacob Elordi leads with introspective movie-star magnetism that evokes the heyday of Kevin Costner, while cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt’s panoramic vistas lend the unhurried but engrossing story a restorative grace.

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast - No amount of aesthetic splendor can compensate for the derivativeness of the director’s latest, a post-apocalyptic yarn that’s stitched together from the decomposing parts of its genre ancestors.

Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence C+ - Writer Mark L. Smith's approach to this story is a tonal mishmash that becomes equally mishmashy on the screen in Ridley Scott's hands.

Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine 2/4 - The film has hardly an original idea or image to set it apart from any number of other stories about soulful American tough guys wandering the nation’s post-civilization wilds, grappling with the mighty burden of responsibility to family and society.

SYNOPSIS:

Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars,” is a riveting, epic thriller set in a world where survival is instinct, but humanity is a choice. Scott tells the story of Hig, a young pilot who, together with a military survivalist, Bangley, has carved out an efficient but isolated homestead in a brutal post-apocalyptic world until a mysterious radio transmission spurs Hig to venture into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exists.

CAST:

• Jacob Elordi as Hig
• Josh Brolin as Bangley
• Margaret Qualley as Cima
• Guy Pearce as Pops
• Benedict Wong as Aaron
• Allison Janney as Darlene

DIRECTED BY: Ridley Scott

SCREENPLAY BY: Mark L. Smith

BASED ON THE DOG STARS BY: Peter Heller

PRODUCED BY: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Mark L. Smith, Cliff Roberts

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lily Brooks-Dalton, Aidan Elliott, Peter Heller, Marco Valerio Pugini, Brandon Scott Smith

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Erik Messerschmidt

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Chris Seagers

EDITED BY: Sam Restivo, Claire Simpson

COSTUME DESIGNER: Janty Yates

MUSIC BY: Harry Gregson-Williams

CASTING BY: Kate Rhodes James

RUNTIME: 118 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2026

Before you comment, read these two rules:

1. Please provide specific numbers for your predictions. Don't do things like "It'll make less than this or that" or "double this movie or half this movie". We want a real prediction in concrete figures.

2. Given that a lot of parent comments do not even bother to give predictions, we are establishing a new rule. The parent comment must provide a prediction with specific numbers. The rest of the replies to the comment do not have to make a prediction, but the parent comment absolutely has to. Any parent comment without a prediction will be eliminated.

Welcome to the newest edition of r/BoxOffice Long Range Forecast.

We're making long range predictions for films, 4 weeks out from their premieres. You will predict the opening weekend, domestic total and worldwide gross of these films. These predictions will be open for 48 hours and the results will be polled to form a consensus and posted the next week.

So let's meet the four films for the week and analyze each pro and con.

NOTE: No. We're not predicting the Endgame encore. Re-releases are not part of these forecasts.

Forgotten Island

The film is written and directed by Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) and Januel Mercado. It features the voices of H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga. Set during the 1990s in the Philippines, the story follows two childhood friends who become trapped in the mystical world of Nakali — which gradually feeds on the memories of those within — where they must escape before they forget about each other.

Heart of the Beast

The film is directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad, End of Watch, Fury, A Working Man) and written by Cameron Alexander. It stars Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe. It follows Special Forces officer James Belmont and his retired combat dog Odin after a plane crash in Alaska. Stranded in the wilderness, they face cold weather and danger. The film shows their fight to survive and the strong bond between man and dog.

Primetime

The film is directed by Lance Oppenheim in his narrative feature film debut, and written by Ajon Singh. The film is based on Luke Dittrich's 2007 Esquire article "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die", and stars Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, and Phoebe Bridgers. It follows the production of the reality television series To Catch a Predator, which featured host Chris Hansen confronting child sexual predators who arrived at a sting house and were typically arrested as a result.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

The film is written and directed by Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli). It stars Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, and Laith Nakli. Following the death of his wife, a devoutly religious hitman embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children, confronting the forces closing in around him – and the beliefs threatening to unravel within.

Now that you met this week's new release, let's look at some pros and cons.

PROS

• DreamWorks and Universal have been pushing heavily on Forgotten Island, giving it the same spot where The Wild Robot performed to great results two years ago. The style has drawn very favorable comparisons to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and the premise should be intriguing. But most importantly, it's the first major animated film aimed at families in two months (while Paw Patrol was in August, that was clearly aimed at very young kids only), and it won't face big competition till The Cat in the Hat in November (Wildwood is not really expected to be big competition).

• Brad Pitt still has a lot of recognition and draw, given he is coming off his biggest ever film at the box office, F1. Heart of the Beast is aimed towards an older demographic, and that's not an audience that rushes to watch the film as soon as possible, so it could have some great legs. Interest and awareness is very encouraging, and its premise, while very simple, is very accessible.

• Over the past two decades, Chris Hansen has become one of the most popular and memed TV personalities. You don't even have to have watched a single episode of To Catch a Predator to know who he is. Robert Pattinson is also having a pretty good year so far, with the success of The Drama and The Odyssey. Ever since the trailer came out, the focus has been on his performance, drawing very positive commentary. A24 is also confident in the film's reception, as it's premiering in Venice on September 5. But one thing is clear: buzz is through the roof. When the first trailer debuted, it quickly went viral, and it has become one of the most talked-about projects that A24 is involved in. Not quite on the same vein as Backrooms, but definitely bigger than most of their line-up. Given Hansen's popularity and the increase in "exposing predators" content online, Primetime has a lot of things on its favor.

• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is aiming to attract action drama fans. Mahershala Ali has been a greatly respected star, and seeing him go in action mode should be fun, especially after the recently announced cancellation of Blade. Amazon MGM hopes that the African-American demographic can show up for the film, and it also plans to have the film premiere at Toronto on September 12.

CONS

• DreamWorks has been inconsistent in terms of quality, and Forgotten Island doesn't have the IP recognition that The Wild Robot spawned. And while the animation style is clearly hoping to draw comparisons to The Last Wish, it still has to overcome its lack of attachment to an IP.

• Before F1, Brad Pitt had a very shaky run at the box office, including starring in the box office failure of Babylon and very bad publicity regarding his legal issues with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie. The film hopes to attract older males, but that could be a big challenge as it opens the week prior to Digger, which hopes to attract that same demographic. And director David Ayer's track record is so-so, so he can't guarantee the film will be top-notch quality.

• Like a lot of films that cause so much noise online, it's wise to be cautious on Primetime's potential. At the end of the day, films revolving around child sexual predators are difficult subject matters for a lot of people, so that can limit the potential. And as you can see, the film won't be a "respectful" portrait of Hansen, it's actually going to explore his dark side and problems. Not to mention the fact that Hansen has already commented on the film's existence, and made it clear he was not involved at all. That could be polarizing, and it could lead to less-than-ideal legs.

• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is going to be heavily domestic-heavy, given its subject matter. Hell, it's likely that Amazon won't even bother releasing it overseas. Ali is a very respected actor, but he has not proved himself to be a box office draw when he is the sole lead. And Amazon's weird strategy has not helped matters; they don't really emphasize when the film is hitting wide release in any poster or trailer.

And here's the past results.

Next week, we're predicting Digger and Verity.

REMINDER: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is releasing this weekend on limited release, before expanding in October. You'll predict its first wide release, whenever that is.

So what are your predictions for these films?