Key Takeaways
- Film Acquisition: Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.
- Release Date: The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on January 30, 2026.
- Director’s Return: This marks Gore Verbinski’s first film in nearly a decade.
- Cast Details: The animated film features Sam Rockwell and other notable actors.
Deadline reports that Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, the first film from director Gore Verbinski in nearly a decade. The film is set to be released in theaters on January 30, 2026.
“This film is wildly original, endlessly entertaining, and unlike anything audiences have seen before,” said Briarcliff Entertainment CEO Tom Ortenberg. “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.“
The film, which Deadline says is actually an animated movie, stars Sam Rockwell as a man claiming to be from the future who takes the patrons of an iconic Los Angeles diner hostage in search of unlikely recruits in a quest to save the world. Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple also star in the film.
Matthew Robinson (Love & Monsters) penned the script for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, with production taking place last year in Cape Town, South Africa.
As I mentioned, it’s been some time since our last Gore Verbinski movie. He last directed A Cure for Wellness, which was released in 2017. The psychological thriller starred Dane Dehaan as an ambitious young executive sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from a mysterious “wellness center.” When he begins to unravel the retreat’s terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests there longing for the cure.
It’s not like Verbinski has just been taking it easy all these years. He’s had a number of projects in the works, but for one reason or another, they never moved forward. He was attached to a live-action adaptation of Bioshock for many years before the project was shelved and was also in talks to direct the Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum. One of the last projects Verbinski was said to be working on was an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s The Sandkings for Netflix, but we haven’t heard any updates on the project for a while.
