Ewan McGregor holding a lit match in The End of Oak Street.Image via Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection
Seven years after one of the Star Wars franchise’s most controversial movies, producer J.J. Abrams is back with an original sci-fi offering from director David Robert Mitchell. The movie arrives against the backdrop of skepticism from audiences and also the industry, especially with Warner Bros. having a difficult run so far this year. The studio has experienced the tragic underperformance of The Bride! and Supergirl. These results represent a setback following a strong 2025, when the studio delivered seven successive hits. Mitchell is unproven at this budget level, having worked exclusively on well-received small-scale projects such as It Follows and Under the Silver Lake.
The new movie follows a suburban family that discovers that dinosaurs have suddenly appeared in their neighborhood. The film is headlined by Ewan McGregor, who has experience with the Star Wars fanbase as well, and Anne Hathaway, who has had a terrific run recently. Aside from the underperformance of the psychological thriller Mother Mary, which grossed just $3 million against a reported budget of $20 million, Hathaway starred in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey, which have grossed a combined total of around $1.7 billion at the global box office. The new sci-fi movie has a hefty reported budget of $85 million to recoup, and for a while, it seemed like it was doomed.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Here’s When J.J. Abrams’ Mysterious New Sci-Fi Movie Will Be Released
However, early reviews have been positive, and the film is poised to gross between $20 million and $30 million in its domestic debut. We’re talking, of course, about The End of Oak Street. The 99-minute sci-fi movie is currently sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 83% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, taking Abrams back to his heyday as a producer of genre titles such as Cloverfield, Overlord, and Lost. He’ll make his directorial comeback with next year’s The Great Beyond, starring Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega. The End of Oak Street is a step in the right direction, with Collider’s Victoria Luxford describing it in her review as “90 minutes of edge-of-your-seat entertainment that commits to its concept and entertains throughout.”
The End of Oak Street will be released theatrically on August 14. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
August 14, 2026
Runtime
100 minutes
Director
David Robert Mitchell
Writers
David Robert Mitchell
Producers
Chris Bender, J.J. Abrams, Tommy Harper, David Robert Mitchell, Jake Weiner, Matt Jackson, Joanne Lee
