Ridley Scott was slated to direct the Bee Gees biopic after Gladiator II, but he’s put the project on hold after issues with the studio.
Ridley Scott was originally slated to follow up Gladiator II with a biopic about the Bee Gees, the iconic musical group formed by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. However, Scott’s next project will instead be The Dog Stars. So, what happened? Turns out there has been some tension with Paramount Pictures, and Scott has been doing this long enough that he doesn’t have time for games, so he walked.
“The deal — the studio changed the goalposts,” Scott told GQ. “I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ They insisted. I said, ‘Well, I’m going to warn you, I will walk, because I will go on to the next movie.’ They didn’t believe me, and I did. I was being asked to go too far. And I said, ‘No. Next!’ They didn’t like my deal. So I said, I’ll move on. I’m expensive, but I’m f***ing good.“
This doesn’t mean that the Bee Gees movie is dead. Scott’s representative told Variety that the director has simply swapped the order of the projects and will still helm the movie later this year.
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Scott also explained why a biopic about the Bee Gees appealed to him. “I liked the working-class side of the Bee Gees. It’s all about competition with brothers,” Scott said. “And then they lose Andy — Andy OD’d at 30. … It’s more about the gift than the luck, right? It’s a fantastic story.” The project would actually be a full-circle moment for the director. Back when he was getting started, Scott had a connection with Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood, who wanted him to direct a medieval movie that would have starred the three brothers. However, the project fell apart, and Scott went on to direct The Duellists instead.
As for The Dog Stars, the project takes place in the near future after a pandemic has decimated American Society. Jacob Elordi will star as Hig, a pilot who lives on an abandoned airbase with his dog and a dour gunman. They must defend themselves from a band of scavengers known as The Reapers, but when a random transmission comes through the radio, Hig risks everything to follow its static-broken trail.
