How Mark L. Smith Turned Peter Heller’s ‘The Dog Stars’ Into a Cinematic Survival Story

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The film: The Dog Stars. The year: 2035. The location: Eerie Colorado, near the Front Mountain Range on the south side of Denver. A deadly flu pandemic has wiped out the majority of the Earth’s population. Based on the 2012 novel by Peter Heller, The Dog Stars is scripted by Mark L. Smith and directed by Ridley Scott. The film stars Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, and Guy Pearce.

In this brutal, post-apocalyptic landscape, the few remaining survivors are forced to confront the harsh realities of a bleak future, as they struggle to make sense of their new reality, reinvent their lives, and preserve what remains of humanity.

A young pilot Hig (Jacob Elordi), and a military survivalist Bangley (Josh Brolin), have carved out an efficient, but isolated, homestead on a deserted airstrip. Bangley has no intentions of leaving, but Hig is eager to track down other survivors. He frequently takes his beloved dog Jasper on scouting missions in his plane, delivering supplies to a nearby Mennonite community and searching for anyone who remains uninfected.

When Hig receives a mysterious radio transmission, he ventures into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exist. But when he is forced to crash land his plane, he stumbles upon an isolated canyon home belonging to Pops (Guy Pearce) who harbors a deep distrust of outsiders and guards his property with military might. He shares his home with his daughter Cima (Margaret Qualley).

Pops embodies the survivalist instinct: suspicious, vigilant, and prepared for attack. Cima, on the other hand, carries the wisdom of survival, without having lost her gentleness, She offers Hig, not just kindness, but the first genuine connection he’s felt in years following his wife’s passing to the dreaded disease.

Mark L. Smith

The Dog Stars: From Book To Screen

Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars was a hit with critics and readers alike, and went on to become a national bestseller. Mark L. Smith then went on to write the screenplay on spec.

“Ridley Scott was looking for a new project once ‘Gladiator II’ had wrapped, and, being familiar with Mark’s past work (The Revenant, The Boys in the Boat), asked if he had written anything new he could read,” says producer Cliff Roberts.

“Producer Michael Pruss, who works with Ridley at Scott Free Productions, suggested ‘The Dog Stars,’ which he read, and immediately agreed should be his next film.” Smith commenced the adaptation.

Roberts continues, “A good adaptation has to have faithfulness and has to be willing to kind of move off of things even if you really like them, and Mark did that in several key places, and quite effectively.”

“Mark’s script perfectly encapsulates the spirit of what Peter was getting at in the book, and what he was saying philosophically about society and the world,” says Pruss. “He brought his own visual language and vocabulary to it.”

Author Peter Heller wanted to respect Mark Smith’s creative muse and didn’t interfere in the adaptation process. They both accepted that books are different than films. The novel is more internalized and often doesn’t command the visual palette of a films. Heller was mindful of the interpretation needed to move The Dog Stars from page to screen.

“The film is such a different change of pace for Ridley Scott, especially on the heels of ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Gladiator II,’” Pruss continues. “One of the films that has always inspired him is ‘The Sound Barrier,’ directed by David Lean, a 1952 British aviation drama, which takes the notion of a plane as both a character and partner in the story, which is exactly what Hig’s Cessna is in the film. It’s not just Hig and Jasper’s mode of transportation… it’s an essential and deep-rooted part of their life.”

While director/ producer Ridley Scott was originally under the impression that this was just another end-of-the-world story, he was pleasantly surprised when he read Smith’s screenplay. “When you read the first page of a screenplay by a good writer, your fate is already sealed,” Scott declares.

“What Mark managed to do – and what most zombie movies do not do – is inject the characters with real heart. Jacob and Josh’s characters live their lives with a degree of humor. It’s like an odd couple having to live together and tolerate each other. And then you have Pops and his daughter Cima, who, when you’re living that close to someone for that length of time with no neighbors and nowhere to go, you start to get irritating.”

Ridley Scott is mindful that an end of the world story has only limited places to go before disintegrating into cliché survivalist adventure territory with nomads hunting like scavengers.

“The Dog Stars is about so many things, whether it’s drama, fear, terror, or comedy,” Scott continues. “It’s really about self-sufficiency. You’ve got to look after yourself. There are two words I love: “grace” and “frugal,” Frugal doesn’t mean that you are mean. Frugal means that you are sensible, and we are so not sensible.”

According to Pruss, “Ridley saw the story as a type of parable, and enjoyed the fact that the story is different from many of these types of end-of-the-world stories. This is more about how desolation leads to loneliness, and how you reconnect with the natural world around you. He liked the fact that while the story was not inherently optimistic, it also wasn’t pessimistic.”

“It’s about a group of people who are going to try, one community at a time, to rebuild a society that’s worth fighting for… something that feels human again, something that feels civilized,” opines Cliff Roberts.

The mood is lyrical and reflective. It demonstrates how the most inhumane conditions can ressurect our human instinct.

Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin star in Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars

(Hig)Jacob Elordi and Bangley (Josh Brolin) as Bangley. Photo by Fabio Lovino/ 20th Century Studios

R elated: Mark L. Smith on The Revenant and Martyrs

The Main Characters

Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights) stars as Hig, a rugged, introspective survivor haunted by loss and driven by a quiet sense of duty and repair.

Once a mechanic and loving husband, he now lives in near isolation with his dog, Jasper, and a battered Cessna plane. Scarred, both physically and emotionally, Hig carries the burden of memory and grief, yet remains compassionate in a world that has grown cold-hearted and indifferent. He scavenges and flies to protect what is his, not just to stay alive, but to hold on to a fragment of his humanity and a reminder that he still has a beating heart. Beneath his worn exterior lies a man searching for meaning, purpose, forgiveness, and a reason to keep going.

“When the audience first meets Hig, it has been some years since he lost his wife Melissa (Sai Bennett), but he’s the kind of person where grief still hangs heavy around his shoulders,” Pruss continues.

Hig is as intuitive as he is hopeful. Deep down, he doesn’t believe that the world has really ended. It’s on hiatus. He senses that there are remnants of humanity at Grand Junction – and he will find them.

Josh Brolin (Milk, Dune: Part 2) is Bangley, a grizzled, hyper-vigilant survivalist with a soldier’s instinct and singular worldview. A former Marine, he is heavily armed, strategically-minded, and fiercely territorial, seeing threats where Hig might foolishly see hope.

Blunt, sardonic, and often callous, he acts as Hig’s reluctant protector and companion. Though seemingly cold, Bangley harbors a sense of loyalty and caring beneath his tough exterior in a world stripped of rules.

“These guys have created this odd couple relationship where they feed off each other in order to survive,” Brolin says. “They have a piece of property that they protect, and Bangley is there all the time. Hig takes his plane and does rounds, where he gathers up food and supplies, and spreads his wings.”

Pops (Guy Pearce) Photo by Fabio Lovino/ 20th Century Studios

“Hig is still in the midst of grief, and Bangley, has a different way of processing grief. He turns it into anger, whereas Hig has a more poetic reaction to it, a romantic reaction. He’s much more apt to be looking off into nature and thinking about his past or thinking about the possibilities of the future, whereas Bangley is more hyper-present. The threat is always right around the corner with Bangley,” Brolin explains.

Margaret Qualley (The Substance, Maid) is Cima, a resilient and perceptive young woman who lives off-grid with her father in a remote stone shelter deep in a secluded canyon. Quietly strong, strikingly beautiful, and emotionally intuitive, she balances caution with empathy. Having grown up in a world torn apart by collapse, she has become resourceful, guarded, and fiercely independent.

“Cima has experienced great loss,” says Qualley. “She seeks solace in nature and her father, and despite everything she’s been through, has a great deal of hope. She has an open-hearted nature and really trusts her instincts. When she meets Hig, he represents hope as well, and he gives her courage to imagine a brighter future.”

“Cima realizes that her Dad, Pops, is growing older, so she needs to be thinking about her future,” Scott expands. “Anything can happen to Pops, and when it does, she’s on her own in this wilderness that is not survivable. The undercurrent is not desperation, but having a plan B seen in Hig.”

Jacob Elordi as Hig and Margaret Qualley as Cima in The Dog Stars

(Hig) Jacob Elordi and Cima (Margaret Qualley) as Cima. Photo by Fabio Lovino/ 0th Century Studios

Guy Pearce (The Brutalist, Mildred Pierce) is Pops, a hardened, no-frills patriarch who has survived the destruction of society by sheer vigilance and grit. A man of few words, but deeply distrustful, Pops appears emotionally closed off, but his protectiveness towards his daughter, Cima, reveals a powerful love.

Allison Janney (I, Tonya, The Roses) is Darlene, an eccentric stewardess in Grand Junction.

Benedict Wong (Weapons, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) is Aaron, the quiet backbone of a hidden Mennonite community struggling to survive in a bleak, post-pandemic world. Gentle, wise, and compassionate, he serves as a caretaker and moral compass for those around him, guiding them with patience and gentle strength and quiet optimism.

On Set With Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Elordi chimes in, “Ridley is, primarily, a visual storyteller. The medium of film is based on visuals, and that’s what makes him so unique: the way he creates a frame, whether he’s using two or ten cameras to catch one scene.”

“When Ridley is on his way to the set in the morning, he’s sitting in the back of a Maybach car, and he’s storyboarding the day with Posca pens. He’ll come into your trailer and give you this piece of paper that he’s been drawing on. It is exactly what you’re shooting for the day in detail,” Elordi continues.

Says Josh Brolin, “Ridley doesn’t beat to the Hollywood drum. He is his own creative organism. There’s a kind of papa bear safety about him, but it feels dangerous at the same time. The thing that I was reminded of when we first started rehearsals, was what an anomaly his process is.”

Brolin continues, “When working with Ridley, you let go of the patterns that you’re attached to. I’ll admit, I did freak out some at the beginning. Ridley is a master at manipulation, but in the best way possible. By the time we got to the end of production, I felt so creatively elevated.”

“With Ridley, you never know where a camera is. He might have six cameras running and there is not a lot of time for rehearsing. And we changed dialogue in every take, which actually ended up helping improve the relationship between Hig and Bangley,” Brolin banters.

“Jacob and I had to rely on each other. It was fun, but I still did not completely trust the process. Then one day Ridley said, ‘Why don’t you trust me?’ He took me into his trailer where they were cutting and he showed me a scene that we had just finished, and it was good.”

Multi-camera shooting gives the actors the freedom to expand because the scene will be shot in one take. If it works, great. Otherwise, it’s back to square one.