Based on Peter Heller’s captivating bestseller, “The Dog Stars” features a critically acclaimed ensemble, including Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, and Guy Pearce. The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, based upon the novel by Peter Heller, and the producers are Ridley Scott, p.g.a., Michael Pruss, p.g.a., Mark L. Smith, and Cliff Roberts, p.g.a., with Lily Brooks-Dalton, Brandon Scott Smith, Peter Heller, Aidan Elliott serving as executive producers.

The film tells the story of Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who, together with a military survivalist, Bangley (Josh Brolin), has carved out an efficient but isolated homestead in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. But when Hig receives a mysterious radio transmission, he ventures into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exist.
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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.

Based on Peter Heller’s captivating bestseller, “The Dog Stars” features a critically acclaimed ensemble, including Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong and Allison Janney. The film is written by Mark L. Smith and produced by Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Mark L. Smith, and Cliff Roberts.

“The Dog Stars” debuts exclusively in cinemas August 27.
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In the decades since the 1987 release of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle The Running Man, so much has changed that this new version should be considered as its own entity. Reality TV has now achieved a crazy level of extreme action as well as hand-to-hand combat sports with its televised brutality. In the context of all these changes, how does one look at this 2025 release? 

First, it must be said that this take is crackling with the kind of irreverent energy that is director/writer Edgar Wright‘s stock in trade, and this is more a reimagining than a reboot. Lead actor Glen Powell is given the chance to outdo Arnie in almost every way. He delivers a physical performance that veers closely to complete anarchy, and he does so with a sly nod at its core.

The world that Wright and cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung have created, one filtered through the loosely adhered to guidelines set out by Stephen King’s novel, mirrors our current society’s tendency towards sensory overload perfectly. It’s a manic level of energy that never subsides. And as ridiculous and over the top as the presentation of the television show that underlines the story and its audience members is, there are parallels with much of current reality TV programming.

Sustaining this level of insanity asks as much from the audience as it does from the cast. This is a difficult film to be neutral about. The question of where this trend towards increased televised absurdity goes next is ever-present. Your ability to process that kind of visual and audio overload will inform your enjoyment of the proceedings. This reviewer enjoyed the heightened level of madness.
Rob Hudson
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In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.

Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system.

As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.

The Running Man will be released in Aussie cinemas November 13!
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In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.

Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system.

As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.

Running Man is coming to cinemas November 13!
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The action. The artillery. The adrenaline. Take a look behind the stunts of The Running Man!

In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.

Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort.

But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.

The Running Man will be released in Aussie cinemas November 13!
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Julia Garner plays Justine Gandy, a grade school teacher who arrives at her class one day to find all of her students (except one) mysteriously missing. You are given no clues at first and Ms Gandy becomes the brunt of the towns anger and suspicion. It turns her life upside down.

As you discover the townspeople’s lives (secret and otherwise) you are drip feed clues to the ultimate circumstance of the missing children’s lives. Then when Gladys Lilly (Amy Madigan) arrives on the scene with her strange red wig and overdone red lippy things take a decidedly dark turn and your sense of curiosity is changed to one of dread.

The facade of normalcy of the town’s inhabitants is torn away. Weapons graphically distills a creepy vision of American life that get weirder and weirder at every turn. When the final resolve happens, it pulls everything together with humour and more than a bit of out right horror.
Rob Hudson
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When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

Experience this chilling new horror at the FRIGHT NIGHT FRIDAY on Friday, 8 August with a Stone & Wood beer on arrival.

WEAPONS – FRIGHT NIGHT FRIDAY
FRIDAY, 8 AUGUST | 6:30pm
DENDY CINEMAS PORTSIDE
www.dendy.com.au

Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort.

But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.

Starring Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson with Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin, The Running Man will be released in Aussie cinemas this November!
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When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

The film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, with Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.

Cregger directs from his own screenplay, and also produces alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, with Michelle Morrissey and Josh Brolin executive producing. The filmmaker’s creative team behind the camera includes director of photography Larkin Seiple, production designer Tom Hammock, editor Joe Murphy and costume designer Trish Sommerville. The music is by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger.

New Line Cinema Presents a Subconscious/Vertigo Entertainment/Boulderlight Pictures Production, a Zach Cregger Film, Weapons. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and released in cinemas August 7, 2025.
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