Gore Verbinski’s ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ Acquired by Briarcliff, Sets January 2026 Wide Release

“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” is set to be Gore Verbinski’s first film in over nine years. He’s assembled an excellent cast for his comeback vehicle: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple.

The film has now been acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment for U.S. distribution, and will release wide theatrically on January 30, 2026 (via Deadline).

“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 centers on a “man from the future” (Rockwell) who arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons (Richardson, Peña, Beetz, Temple) to join him on a one-night-six-block quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial intelligence.

Before his nine-year hiatus, Verbinski had a mostly successful career, with films like “The Ring,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Rango,” and “The Weather Man.” But then came the slump: 2013’s “The Lone Ranger”—one of the biggest box-office disasters of all time—followed by 2016’s “A Cure for Wellness.” He hasn’t directed a film since.

In 2018, he was slated to helm a Gambit-centric entry in the X-Men universe, but he bailed. He also had plans for an animated Netflix feature, “Cattywumpus,” about cats in outer space; Netflix eventually dropped it.

Verbinski’s track record isn’t flawless, but he has always favored original content—aside from, perhaps, one ‘Pirates’ sequel too many. That’s why I’m genuinely excited to see what he does next.