Director Ridley Scott is preparing to re-enter science fiction filmmaking this summer with 'The Dog Stars,' starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin, following nearly a decade spent focusing on period dramas. This marks a notable return to a genre that shaped much of his earlier career, including the commercially successful 'Prometheus' and the critically acclaimed 'The Martian,' which became his highest-grossing film to date.

The shift coincides with the departure of a prior Scott sci-fi film from HBO Max. That earlier work, released roughly two years after 'The Martian,' had received largely positive reviews but underperformed at the box office, prompting the studio to restructure its franchise plans. Scott's characteristic approach of managing multiple simultaneous projects has enabled him to navigate between genres, though recent commercial disappointments in his period films appear to be steering him back toward science fiction.