Iconic filmmaker Gore Verbinski, known for the Pirates of the Caribbean films, is back, and this time, he's dipping his toes into the time travel genre with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. The film stars Sam Rockwell as a time traveler who finds himself on his 117th attempt to find the perfect combination of people to save the future of the world—all chosen from within a Norms diner.
The film has an absolutely all-star cast who join Sam Rockwell (someone fans are begging to return to the MCU) in this crazy adventure, including Haley Lu Richardson (Ingrid), Michael Peña (Mark), Zazie Beetz (Janet), Juno Temple (Susan), and Asim Chaudhry (Scott).
The Direct sat down with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die director Gore Verbinski for an interview, where the filmmaker spoke about how his time-traveling movie subverts expectations of the genre and how he balanced the entertainment of his satirical world with its relevance to today's world.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die hits theaters on February 13, 2025.
How Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Subverts Time Travel Expectations
"You Have to Pay Attention to the Kind of Little Discrepancies That Might Surround Him."
- The Direct: "There are a lot of movies that deal with time travel—it's basically its own genre. So, when you were tackling this project, how did you want to subvert the expectations that people might have from other time travel films?
Gore Verbinski: I think there's a lot of gaming logic in our movie as well. I mean, I think that there's a sense that you have different levels. Like, how many? I'd be very curious to see what the 37th time that Sam's character tried to get to the diner. What happened? What frustrations occur? When is this antagonist throwing things at him? So he's sort of picking up little cosmic lint?
I don't think you'd make 117 journeys through this time portal without picking up some weirdness, whether it's a Cholula bottle or, you know, so you have to pay attention to the kind of little discrepancies that might surround him. And I think there are some questions I don't want to answer in this interview.
But, you know, think about what's a timeline and what's a simulation, and what's the difference, and can you have both? So look, I think it's a type of movie, one you want to watch more than once.
Director Gore Verbinski on Balancing Satire's Entertainment and Relevance
"You're Talking About the Medicine and the Cake, Right?"
- The Direct: "The movie also paints a satirical yet harrowing look at what the world might look like in the future. How did you find that balance of it being entertaining versus avoiding it hitting too close to home, or being relevant?"
Gore Verbinski: Well, I mean, you're talking about the medicine and the cake, right? I mean, I think, you know, there's a bit of social satire in this movie. You can just go watch it and be entertained, or you can watch it, and you can think about it, go to Norms and have some pie in conversation afterwards, and maybe you too will join the revolution.
I think it's, you know, you jump into a movie, and you iterate, right? You play, you try to, kind of conspire to create something that's engaging. And sometimes you have this sort of balance of intention and discovery.
I think, particularly in a case of when you're dealing with someone like Sam Rockwell, you don't want to box him in too much. You want to allow for discovery, because he's going to bring an energy to it that he's going to bring the unexpected.
The full interview can be viewed below:
