Sam Rockwell stars in Gore Verbinski’s sci‑fi movie Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, leading a chaotic mission to stop rogue AI coming next year.
The movie made its world premiere at the 2025 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, this past September. Watch the full teaser for the film below.
What is Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die About?
Sam Rockwell (Moon, Iron Man 2) portrays “Man From the Future.” He’s an unnamed man who claims to be from the future. He shows up at “Norm’s Restaurant” in Los Angeles to enlist a motley crew of unlikely heroes. Why? To help him prevent the world from turning into his future, which he describes as a “nightmare apocalypse.” Everyone is depressed and glued to their virtual reality headsets. Who is going to join him? Who is prepared to preserve the future?
The movie was written by Matthew Robinson (Love and Monsters, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Monster Trucks). Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die has a pretty stacked cast beyond just the Oscar-winning Rockwell. There’s Haley Lu Richardson (White Lotus), Michael Peña (Ant-Man), Zazie Beetz (Joker, Deadpool 2), Asim Chandhry (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), Tom Taylor (House of the Dragon), and Juno Temple (Ted Lasso), too. Indeed, the revolution starts tonight!
Gore Verbinski, the director of Pirates of the Caribbean and A Cure for Wellness, is making his directorial comeback after a nine-year break. Yesterday, Briarcliff Entertainment published a trailer for its next sci-fi movie, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. Additionally, it was revealed that the movie’s original January 30 release date has been pushed back a few weeks to February 13, 2026.
Trailer Breakdown for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026)
The teaser movie trailer opens with Rockwell’s character bursting into a Los Angeles diner, claiming to be from the future. He takes the patrons hostage (or at least commandeers their attention) and tells them the world is on the brink.
We see scenes of varied characters (teachers, students, regular diner folk) being pulled in. One striking moment shows Pena’s teacher watching students who seem possessed by a mobile-phone app. It looks like a bizarre sci-fi film.
After the light-hearted opening, we see horrifying scenes of a world under siege by AI. There are reality-distorting and bizarre images, like a giant hoof dropping from the sky and crushing a car. Are those zombies piling on top of one another? Where did those robotic dolls come from? Like many sci-fi movies lately, the film appears to be commenting on tech, AI, and our dependence on devices.
That blend of comedy + apocalypse + weirdness is a sign that Verbinski’s returning to a more playful tone.
Audience & Fan Reaction to Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026)
When the movie premiered at Fantastic Fest and Beyond Festival, reactions had already hyped the movie up as something special, calling it “as entertaining as it is profound.” Another reviewer teased, “You’ll constantly feel shocked at the subject matter that is evoking guttural laughter. It’s as entertaining as it is profound.”
From The Ring to Pirates of the Caribbean, Rango, and The Lone Ranger, Verbinski has made a career out of creating engrossing, fantastical worlds. With this new endeavor, it appears that he is delving deeply into an enjoyable genre that he has never thoroughly investigated before: futuristic science fiction comedy with a hint of existential dread.
Final Thoughts on the Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026) Teaser Trailer
Will this be any good? We don’t know, but with Rockwell at the helm, we’re genuinely excited to find out. There’s a good chance Verbinski has a winner because early festival reviews have been very positive. However, it’s questionable whether Verbinski still has his fastball, as he hasn’t produced a film that is unquestionably amazing in nearly 15 years. But we hope so.
(Via Rogers Movie Nation)
What do you think of the trailer? If you were recruited to stop a rogue AI like in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, would you join the mission—or run for the hills?
