Colorado author Peter Heller’s debut novel “The Dog Stars” is getting a major Hollywood adaptation that will bring the 2012 book to movie theaters this summer.
And Heller, the New York Times bestselling author of multiple Colorado-set stories of nature and humanity in crisis, is fully along for the ride.
Budgeted at $110 million, the film version of “The Dog Stars” is driven by Academy Award-winning director Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner,” “Napoleon”), Oscar-nominee Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Oscar-nominated actor Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”), Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin (“Weapons”), Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”), and Benedict Wong (“Avengers: Doomsday”).
All signed on to realize Heller’s wide-ranging novel thanks to Scott’s involvement in the film, which 20th Century Studios will release on Aug. 28. “The Dog Stars” traces Colorado pilot Hig’s post-apocalyptic journey with his dog, Jasper, after he receives a mysterious transmission at the abandoned Erie airstrip where he lives.
Heller, a New York Times bestselling author who’s written titles such as “Burn,” “The Orchard,” and “The Painter,” has enjoyed national recognition over the last decade-plus, particularly as his work has been vaunted in Oprah’s Book Club and other national media.
Ridley Scott, photographed at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2018, secured the $100 million-plus budget for “The Dog Stars.” (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Heller embarked on his own epic journey while visiting the movie set outside Rome, spending time with most of the cast and crew. After flying to Italy in July, he was welcomed warmly by the 200-strong production crew and cast, he said, all of whom had either read the book in English or its Italian translation. That was thanks to Scott stocking their hotel lobbies with hundreds of copies of “The Dog Stars.”
“It was all of the crew, even the animal handlers,” Heller said over the phone from Mexico, where he lives and surfs when not residing in Colorado. “I was there a whole three days when Guy Pearce came across the set and grabbed me and said, ‘I loved the book! Great to meet you.’ And he had just gotten an Academy Award (nomination). Same (reaction) with Jacob Elordi (who plays protagonist Hig). Same with the costume designer, Janty Yates, who has three Oscars.”
Heller shares these stories not to boast, he said, but to underline what an unusual experience it was for an author. Many writers are kept at arm’s length when their work is being adapted into a narrative feature or series; one of the reasons is the author’s hypersensitivity to plot, character or setting changes (in other words: their preciousness about hewing to the book).
But that can slow or complicate a production, if not anger the director and producers. In this case, Heller is an executive producer on the film, so that helped. He also made peace with the adaptation process before he ever visited the set.
“I don’t expect it to be rendered perfectly as a book on the screen. I’m just really honored and excited that another great artist is inspired to craft a new and discrete work of art,” he said. “A lot of writers don’t go into it with that approach, but I saved myself a lot of heartache that way. It’s angst-free.”
The movie’s casting details have been lighting up trade magazines such as Variety and Deadline since 2024, but only recently has it gained wider attention as the studio preps a marketing blitz. No production or photos or details have leaked yet, making its look a closely guarded secret. The lead role has shifted since it was optioned back in 2018, first with Channing Tatum attached, then Paul Mescal, who recently worked with director Scott in “Gladiator II.”
Nabbing British actor Jacob Elordi, pictured here at the Academy Awards nominee luncheon on Feb. 10, was a big-name coup for “The Dog Stars” — but not the only one. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Nabbing Australian actor Elordi, who’s nominated this year for Best Supporting Actor in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” wasn’t the only big-name coup (Heller said he and Elordi enjoyed talking over film history, as Elordi is a cinephile). In fact, the screenplay for “The Dog Stars” was written by Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant,” “Twisters”), who has written blockbusters while winning critical acclaim over the last decade.
Heller recalls being phoned by Smith about three years ago to praise the novel and secure permission to adapt it. Smith grew up on a 200-acre dude ranch in Colorado and fully understood the tone of the novel’s setting.
“I loved ‘The Revenant’ because the landscape is a major character, and it’s that way in a lot of my books, too,” Heller said. “So I said, ‘Of course, I’d be honored if you take a crack at it.’ And he wrote the screenplay in three months.”
Given Smith’s reputation — “The Revenant” was nominated for 12 Oscars and ended up winning three in 2016 — the completed screenplay quickly found its way to Scott, who signed on and secured the $100 million-plus budget, Heller said.
For various reasons, Scott chose to film in Italy as a stand-in for Colorado. When visiting the sets, Heller was impressed by the contrast between the scope of the production and its intimate artistry. Pivotal scenes at the abandoned airstrip, set in Erie, were shot in the Dolemite Mountains. For three days during Heller’s visit, a provincial park an hour and a half north of Rome doubled as the Uncompahgre Plateau in Western Colorado.
“The Dog Stars,” by Peter Heller (Vintage Contemporaries)
Scott is 88 years old and has bad knees, but was still the most energetic person on set, Heller said. Scott directs from a production bunker full of monitors, shooting with eight cameras simultaneously. That means every angle needs to be screen-ready and not tainted by equipment, crew or the director.
Fortunately, Scott invited Heller into the heart of the process (a.k.a. the camouflaged bunker) and allowed him to watch the filming. Scott happily regaled him with stories while complimenting the book, immediately making Heller feel that his work was being adapted in the right spirit, he said.
“There’s this scene where we’re filming in a little cabin in a wooded meadow, and Jacob Elordi’s character says to Guy Pearce, ‘Thanks for not killing me,’ ” Heller said. “As a gesture of goodwill, he picks up a pot of wildflowers and puts it under a drip in the ceiling. And then he starts talking about how he got there, and how his wife died in the pandemic, and his dog Jasper, and I just started to cry.
“It was so moving to see this scene that I had written come to life,” Heller added. “Cliff (Roberts, one of the film’s producers) just squeezed my arm and said, ‘This is the response I wanted you to have.’ It was just so friggin’ cool.”
This article was updated to correct actor Jacob Elordi’s nationality as Australian.
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