Gore Verbinski on His AI Comedy Comeback: “It’s 2026. Good Luck. Have Fun. Don’t Die.”

The blockbuster director pivots to indie filmmaking for a Berlin-premiering sci-fi comedy about artificial intelligence, creative survival and why “women will save the world.” Gore Verbinski Sela Shiloni/Courtesy of Blind Wink Productions Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Gore Verbinski has only returned to the big screen after a decade away from directing huge blockbusters like The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Lone Ranger. Now with his first-ever indie pic, the sci-fi comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, artificial Intelligence has the world’s future on the line when Sam Rockwell, playing The Man From the Future, walks into a Norms diner in Los Angeles one night to ask customers to join him on a journey to save the world from an AI apocalypse. The diners, much like the audience during the opening scene for director Verbinski’s ambitious satire on this existential threat to humanity, have no idea how this madman raging against the AI machine in an LA eatery would save the world. Related Stories Movies Next Narrative Africa Fund Founder Akunna Cook on Why Hollywood Needs an Africa Strategy Movies In 'London,' Debuting at Berlin, Car-Sharing Is Caring. But How Did Its Director Pull Off the Genre-Bender? “When you look at this man (Rockwell) coming into Norms, claiming to be from the future, looking like he might have crawled out of a dumpster — that could happen at Norms tomorrow. And yet by the end of that monologue, he’s convincing the patrons to come with him,” Verbinki tells The Hollywood Reporter ahead of a European premiere for his comedic roller coaster ride at the Berlin Film Festival. What follows is Rockwell and his merry band of misfits on a madcap romp through a dystopian landscape for a showdown with the future’s artificial nemesis. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, based on a screenplay by Matthew Robinson, also stars Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Zazie Beetz and Michael Pena and is produced by Constantine and Briarcliff Entertainment. Ahead of a Feb. 13 theatrical release, Verbinski talked to THR about his big screen return, the perils and promises of AI running and destroying our lives, and whether women will save the world: “I would say fuck yes. And I think my mom would agree,” he declares. After being away for a decade with a movie release, how does it feel to be back? It’s not like I ever stopped, just because there’s not been a film released in that time. I’ve been working daily on music and lyrics for a big animated musical, and breaking down character design and visual effects for an adaptation of a George RR Martin short story called Sand Kings. We’ve been mapping out an eight-episode adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination. We’ve been crafting an Edward Gorey story, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, among several other completely original ideas. We have a nice little Bauhaus over here at Blind Wink in Pasadena. And I enjoy coming in every day and tinkering and making things, art and music. But when I agree to do a film, I know I’m going to open a vein and leave it all on the field. And I I will do that for any of the things that I’m passionate about, but not always for something that comes in from a studio or an agency. So Matthew’s (Robinson) script was an exception. I just felt it felt urgent and mad and reckless and something I wanted to fully invest in. From left: Asim Chaudhry, Juno Temple, Michael Peña, Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz and Haley Lu Richardson in ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.’ Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment When first reading Robinson’s screenplay, were you concerned with opening a movie with a long monologue? I love it when people ask me, what is the film based on? And I get to say a script. It’s like such a rare and wondrous thing. When I first read Matthew’s script in 2020, it had been kicking around for a while. You normally don’t start a movie with an 11-page opening monologue. I like doing things I’m not sure how to do. And it sort of grabbed me. And I’ve always been curious, and there’s a cost to curiosity that I’m sort of willing to embrace. I love burned fingers, but I’m still drawn to the light, and I think that opening monologue grabbed me right away. The film is timely in tackling artificial intelligence. How hard was it to be current in portraying AI as an evolving technology from script to screen? Matthew and I did a bit of work from 2020 to 2022, mostly in the second half, really solidifying The Man From the Future’s backstory and addressing when he initially wrote (the screenplay) in 2017, his version of AI. We clearly had to make it more relevant to the AI that’s in our life right now, that’s happening. How do you personally feel about AI: friend or foe? I could go on and on about my