Gore Verbinski’s ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die!’ Surprise Screens at Fantastic Fest, Early Reactions Call It a ‘Generational Banger’”

So, Gore Verbinski’s “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die!” had a surprise screening last night at Fantastic Fest, well over four months before its January 2026 release. A sign of confidence on the part of Briarcliff? Of course, no reviews have popped up yet—I don’t think many, if any, critics were prepared with their notepads.

As is the case whenever a film gets screened in advance, we should always take early reactions with a grain of salt. Still, it’s looking pretty good for Verbinski’s comeback vehicle, which had test-screened to great reactions in August. A “critic” by the name of James Preston Poole, who is accredited with Discussing Film, called it a “generational banger.” lol.

As I wrote yesterday, “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die!” is set to be 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.

We also got our first look at Sam Rockwell in the film. Briarcliff Entertainment recently acquired U.S. distribution and has set up a wide theatrical release on January 30, 2026.

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.

Reactions can be seen below.