Image credit: dogstarsmovie/Instagram
Highlights
Starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley, The Dog Stars is slated for an August 28 worldwide release.
The Dog Stars was shot across Rome and rural Italy, against serene and striking landscapes.
A post-apocalyptic movie with a difference! With no zombies or aliens to terrify the surviving humans, The Dog Stars explores nuances of loneliness, hope for a better life, and a search for human connection. The movie was almost entirely shot across Italy, in places such as Friuli, Veneto, Abruzzo, and Rome. Read on to know more about the serene landscapes and other filming locations of The Dog Stars.
Check out our story on the filming locations of ‘Outer Banks’ season 5.
The Dog Stars: Trailers, cast, and release date
Director Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars is based on Peter Heller’s 2012 apocalyptic thriller. It stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, and Canine co-star Rak Jasper. The movie is slated for a global release on August 28, 2026. Ahead of its theatrical rollout, the film had its world premiere in London on August 20, 2026. The Dog Stars is set in post-pandemic Colorado, where a lone pilot named Hig survives in an airplane hangar with his dog and Bangley, a military survival expert, until a mysterious radio transmission sends him searching for other survivors across the country.
Filming locations of The Dog Stars across Italy
Lake Bordano, Friuli
Lake Cavazzo, Italy | Image credit: Cascafico, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The shores of Lake Bordano in Friuli, along with the forested shoreline and the surrounding rugged terrain, formed the perfect backdrop for showing the post-apocalyptic landscape.
Places to visit nearby: Lake Cavazzo, Bordano Butterfly House, Monte San Simeone, and Forte di Monte Festa.
How to reach: Trieste Airport is approximately 60 km away.
Cansiglio plateau, the Belluno Prealps
Cansiglio Forest, Italy | Image credit: GIALLO1963/Flickr
Multiple locations were chosen across this lush, forested alpine landscape, including Polcenigo, the Cansiglio forest, Vallorch, and the Cimbrian villages, Le Rotte and La Genzianella.
Places to visit: Parco Grotte del Caglieron, Lago di Santa Croce, Pizzoc Peak, and Museo Etnografico di Cultura Cimbra.
How to reach: Treviso Airport is approximately 73 km away.
Abruzzo
Abruzzo National Park, Italy | Image credit: Zoe Olivieri, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In Abruzzo, Director Ridley Scott found a landscape that was visually similar to the Colorado Rockies. This is also the film’s central location, with filming taking place at the Parchi dell’Aquila Airport in Preturo. The airport hangar is where Hig and Bangley have built their post-apocalyptic shelter. Some scenes were also shot at the Sirente Velino Regional Park, where the open mountain terrain is perfect for depicting a desolate, lonely existence, keeping with the dystopian storyline.
Places to visit: Scanno village, Monti della Laga National Park, and the Rocca Calascio Fortress.
How to reach: Abruzzo Airport is located approximately 4 km away.
Rome
Le Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome | Image credit: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For urban sequences, Rome became a natural choice. Kennedy Square in the EUR district of Rome was shown as a post-apocalyptic battlefield. Helping in the recreation were scores of destroyed helicopters and airplanes, cars that were smashed to smithereens, and seemingly dilapidated buildings. Filming also took place in front of the Congress Palace and Casal Bernocchi, as well as Cinecittà Studios for interior sequences. Production concluded in late June 2025 after a month of filming in the natural landscape of Bosco Macchia Grande in Manziana, near Rome.
Places to visit: The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, The Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and Trastevere.
How to reach: Rome Ciampino Airport is located within the city.
(Feature image credit: dogstarsmovie/Instagram)
Related | In Images: Why Summer Sunset Walks In Rome Is A Great Idea
Note:
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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Written By
Senior Digital Writer – Growth, Travel
Esha is a traveller at heart, with a penchant for exploring the unchartered. She has previously worked ..Read Morewith TravelTriangle and Internet Moguls. When not in work mode, she can be found downing endless cups of coffee while reading Enid Blyton/Sidney Sheldon. Read Less