Gore Verbinski Unleashes Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die — First Still Drops And Early Reactions Are Wild
After a decade away from the director’s chair, Gore Verbinski roars back with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die — get your first look and see the early buzz building around his comeback.
Gore Verbinski is finally back behind the camera, and he did not tiptoe in. His new one, 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die,' just popped up as a secret screening at Fantastic Fest, we got a fresh still of star Sam Rockwell, and the first reactions are exactly the kind of bonkers you want to hear with a title like that.
So what is this thing?
On paper, it's an action-comedy: Rockwell plays a guy who says he is from the future, storms a classic Los Angeles diner, and takes everyone inside hostage to recruit a motley crew for a save-the-world mission. In practice, early viewers say it's a sharp, weird satire with time travel, AI anxiety, and, yes, pie. The tech-addiction angle is very now, both in the real world and specifically in Hollywood, which makes this one feel extra timely.
The cast and the brains behind it
Rockwell leads a stacked ensemble: Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Pena, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple are all in the mix. The screenplay is by Matthew Robinson, who co-wrote 'The Invention of Lying' with Ricky Gervais and 'Love and Monsters' with Brian Duffield. Distribution is via Briarcliff Entertainment, and they are clearly high on what Verbinski cooked up with this (his first independent feature).
'This film is wildly original, endlessly entertaining, and unlike anything audiences have seen before. After seeing it, we immediately knew Briarcliff was the perfect partner to distribute Gore Verbinski's first independent, bonkers movie. We couldn't be more excited to share his vision with audiences across the country.'
What people at Fantastic Fest are saying
The movie screened Wednesday as the fourth and final secret screening of the festival — a fun bit of inside baseball — and the responses out of Austin have been enthusiastic, and also kind of gleefully baffled in the best way:
- The HoloFiles called it a truly original, bizarre trip that hilariously and scathingly goes after the future we're barreling toward, praising how daring and creative it is.
- According to Seth: imagine Verbinski doing 'Terminator' but as a satire about our escape into screens instead of real life — wild, zany, hilarious, and a needed wake-up call.
- Eric Vespe: an incredibly entertaining satire about time travel, AI, pie, and modern tech addiction, with Rockwell steering a straight-up bonkers save-the-world adventure.
- Slasher Reviews: one of the boldest, most inventive sci-fi movies in ages — unbelievably fun, jaw-on-the-floor stuff — and exactly the kind of weird cinema worth championing.
- Rob Dean: darkly hilarious and crackling with immediacy and invention; the ending is a little wobbly for him, but the ride is a blast and the cast keeps surprising.
Why this feels like the right comeback
Verbinski hasn't released a feature since 'A Cure for Wellness,' so this is his first return to theaters in nearly a decade and a clean break from his 'Pirates of the Caribbean' era. The AI-and-tech obsession angle is the definition of current, which could help this find a big audience if the word of mouth spreads beyond the festival bubble. Also, a new still of Rockwell dropped with the reactions — consider it the calm before the chaos, because the movie apparently does not sit still.
Release date
'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' hits theaters on January 30, 2026.