Briarcliff Entertainment has nabbed the new movie from Gore Verbinski.
The company acquired U.S. distribution rights to Verbinski’s “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” from Constantin Film LA and will release the movie theatrically on Jan. 30, 2026, TheWrap learned Tuesday.
Verbinski’s first film since 2017’s “A Cure for Wellness” stars Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple. The official logline states that the movie “follows 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.” While the original announcement stated that the movie was animated, an individual with knowledge of the project said it’s not live-action or animated. Make of that what you will.
“This film is wildly original, endlessly entertaining and unlike anything audiences have seen before,” said Briarcliff Entertainment CEO Tom Ortenberg in an official statement. “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.”
Constantin Film LA’s Robert Kulzer added in an official statement: “We were immediately excited and impressed by Tom and his team’s passion for our movie and his commitment to the theatrical experience.”
Verbinski had previously spent years developing a new animated project called “Cattywampus” with Netflix and featuring animation from Industrial Light & Magic, who worked on Verbinski’s Oscar-winning animated film “Rango.” When the movie was proving too expensive and complex, they canceled the project and allowed Verbinski to shop “Cattywampus” around. Verbinski was also hard at work on an adaptation of the George R.R. Martin story “Sandkings” with “Utopia” creator Dennis Kelly, also for Netflix. (It had previously been adapted as an episode of the 1990’s version of “The Outer Limits.”) But after the streaming giant killed “Cattywampus,” it’s unlikely his other film would have continued.
“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” will be released on Jan. 30, 2026.
