Anne Hathaway Tells Fans Not to Worry About the Dog in 'The End of Oak Street'

Anne Hathaway has a message for anyone anxious about the fate of the dog in her new film The End of Oak Street: don't worry.

In an interview with Complex, reported by Deadline on 15 August 2026, Hathaway addressed the online chatter surrounding Starbuck, the canine character in the Warner Bros. sci-fi film she stars in alongside Ewan McGregor. "We break rules in this movie [but] that might not be one of them," she told the magazine. "Don't worry." (Deadline)

Starbuck is played by two real-life dogs named Buzz and Brisket, according to the same Deadline report. The film is distributed by Warner Bros., which has been promoting it through an unusual partnership with an AI-generated dog podcast — a marketing tie-up covered by Variety on 8 August 2026. (Variety)

The concern Hathaway felt compelled to answer is not unusual. Online forums and social media have long hosted searchable warnings about films in which a dog dies, and audiences have built entire databases tracking which titles are safe to watch. Hathaway has a theory about where the anxiety took root. She told Complex that she traces the modern preoccupation to 2014's John Wick, in which the title character's beagle puppy, Daisy, is beaten to death — the inciting incident that sends Keanu Reeves' retired assassin back into action. (Deadline)

She went further, proposing that any film in which a dog dies should automatically receive an R rating from the Motion Picture Association — the body that classifies films in the United States — regardless of its language or violence level. Under current MPA guidelines, ratings are determined by factors such as violence, language, drug use, and sexual content; animal harm alone does not trigger an automatic R. (Deadline)

Whether that idea gains traction with the MPA or within the industry is another matter. What is clear is that the question of Starbuck's survival had generated enough noise for a leading actor to address it directly in a major magazine interview — a reminder that for many filmgoers, the fate of an on-screen animal can matter as much as anything that happens to the human cast.

For now, Hathaway's word is the reassurance on offer. Buzz and Brisket, it seems, are safe. The film itself remains in release through Warner Bros.