Gore Verbinski on how Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die deals with “terrifying” prospect of AI

by

The new time-travel film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, centers around an AI villain. Director Gore Verbinski describes the movie as a relevant and frightening story about a dangerous enemy.

The film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die opens with Sam Rockwell’s character, a time traveler, arriving at a diner and warning everyone that artificial intelligence has decimated humanity in the future. He then gathers a mismatched team to try and prevent this catastrophe – it’s his 118th attempt.

TopMob reviewed the movie at Fantastic Fest, praising it for perfectly balancing comedy and the unsettling realities of our current world.

We then interviewed director Gore Verbinski to discuss his reasons for exploring those ideas and his thoughts on the growing impact of artificial intelligence.

Gore Verbinski believes Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is his most “timely” movie

Gore Verbinski, the director of Pirates of the Caribbean, hasn’t directed a film in almost ten years. He says he was attracted to the script for “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” because of its relevance to current events, making it the most up-to-date movie he’s ever worked on.

Verbinski believes releasing the movie now is crucial, and he especially wants audiences to experience it together in theaters.

Verbinski believes artificial intelligence is unavoidable and on its way, and he has mixed feelings about it. He’s both excited and scared, recognizing that it’s a potentially frightening development. He feels the film’s title – suggesting a choice between ignoring, fearing, or embracing AI – perfectly captures the current moment.

It’s clearly taking control and moving forward. Considering humans have existed for roughly three thousand years, I believe we’re on the verge of a significant shift.

We’re experiencing a major shift, but it’s unlike past revolutions driven by machines like windmills or computers. What we’re creating is a new form of digital life, and unfortunately, it seems to be learning some of our basic, flawed instincts.

The problem with artificial intelligence

We asked Verbinski for his thoughts on movies featuring artificial intelligence. He responded by saying he’s concerned that the focus has been too much on the potential of AI itself.

Rather than focusing on major challenges like curing cancer or space exploration, this technology is prioritizing creative tasks – things like writing stories, creating art, and even composing music. It feels like it’s aiming to automate everything, even fundamental human experiences, and ultimately, to take things away from us.

We need to preserve the experiences that connect us as people, like sharing stories around a campfire. Why are we focusing on automating tasks that define what it means to be human, instead of tackling jobs that are simply unpleasant?

It seems that’s because, as a language model, it was initially developed by analyzing user data – things like what people buy, enjoy, how they use products, and what turns them off. The goal was to understand user behavior and keep people engaged.

Because the AI was initially developed using existing data and methods, its core programming is deeply rooted in those past applications. This likely explains why it’s now being focused on creative fields like the arts.

Why AI is “starting to drink its own p*ss”

D1E

— Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (@GLHFDDmovie) November 12, 2025

We then asked Gore about the future of this technology. Verbinski replied that soon you’ll be able to simply request a movie – even something incredibly specific like “The Godfather with talking frogs” – and it will be instantly available and well-made. However, he questioned what this convenience ultimately costs us.

Don’t we all have a natural drive to bring our passions to life? If you love fly fishing, it feels right to actually do it yourself. It seems strange to remove that human element – the joy of creating and experiencing things firsthand.

I believe we’re on the verge of something fascinating, and a little strange. Because AI has absorbed so much information from the internet and is now rapidly generating and re-releasing content, it’s starting to become self-referential. This will likely lead to a subtle but noticeable shift in its output, becoming quite surreal very quickly. I’m even considering purchasing a pre-AI Encyclopaedia Britannica, just to remind myself of a time when we had direct access to established knowledge!

The game Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t die will be released on February 13, 2026. If you’re interested in the ongoing discussion about AI, you might also want to explore the controversies surrounding Robin Williams, the AI character Tilly Norwood, and films like Megalopolis, Late Night With the Devil, and Thunderbolts. Additionally, the TV shows True Detective and the One Piece anime are relevant to this conversation.

Read More

2025-11-13 17:52