(L to R) Kelly Lynch, director Gus Van Sant, Al Pacino and Colman Domingo attend Row Ok’s ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’ Los Angeles Premiere at The Grove AMC on January 7, 2026 in Los Angeles.
Set in 1977 and based mostly on a real story, ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’ follows Tony Kiritsis, a former actual property developer who places a useless man’s change on himself and the mortgage banker who did him fallacious, whereas demanding $5 million and a private apology.
“His revolution was televised.”
Launch Date: Jan 16, 2026
Run Time: 1 hr 45 min
Moviefone was in attendance at a latest press convention, wherein director Gus Van Sant and author Austin Kolodney shared behind-the-scenes particulars and talk about adapting a real story for the display.
Associated Article: Director Gus Van Sant Talks New Crime Thriller ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’
1) Gus Van Sant Was In ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’ As a result of It Was Going To Be Filmed Nearly Instantly
(L to R) Dacre Montgomery as Richard ‘Dick’ Corridor and Invoice Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’. Picture: Row Ok Leisure
When requested about what drew him to the mission, Gus Van Sant shockingly explains that it principally needed to do with the capturing timeline.
Gus Van Sant: I joined on with the information that it was capturing in Louisville, Kentucky. And it was capturing in a short time. This was September of final yr, and Cassian Elwes, the producer, was planning to shoot in November. I used to be intrigued by the entire state of affairs of getting to do one thing straight away and never even realizing what it was about. Form of… I did not actually say sure. I did learn the script earlier than I mentioned sure.
2) Austin Kolodney First Heard About Tony Karitsis On A Podcast
Invoice Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’. Picture: Row Ok Leisure.
Author Austin Kolodney first heard about this true story on a podcast and puzzled to himself why it wasn’t a film. So he wrote a script.
Austin Kolodney: I first heard it talked about on a podcast. A producer, Jamie Vernon, had talked about the title and the crime, and I had my antenna up. That is the peak of COVID in 2020, throughout that summer time. And I used to be actively in search of one thing to put in writing. I had written a pair different options, like smaller indie issues that I’d wish to direct, however I used to be like, I must try to get one thing made quickly to repay bank card debt, get the profession began, I am unable to simply preserve Lyft driving. So, I used to be actively in search of one thing that I believe can be a film, and after I heard about Tony, went down this rabbit gap, some podcasts, there’s an excellent dollop episode about him, after which there’s this one YouTube video that I used as a hyperlink, as a result of it had this 5-minute summation of this actually grainy texture, archival footage shot, spotlight reel ofTony slipping on the ice, and cracking jokes on the cops, and laughing at them, and getting them to snort with him, after which asking for water, and having to carry the gun and drink it like a child chook, and for some purpose that crystallized the film for me. I am like, how has this not been made right into a film? So I began creating it as a film.
3) Austin Kolodney Included Hyperlinks To Movies In His Preliminary Script
(L to R) Dacre Montgomery as Richard ‘Dick’ Corridor and Invoice Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’. Picture: Row Ok Leisure
Gus Van Sant says that Austin Kolodney’s inclusion of hyperlinks within the script helped him to know who Tony Karitsis actually was.
Gus Van Sant: You would see very clearly the man, Tony Karitsis’ character, partly because of the hyperlinks that had been related within the script to his precise voice. You would hear the true man, who was very intriguing, and so inside only a few moments, I do not know that I wasn’t aware of I suppose it was apparent that he was a determined underdog character that resembled different characters that I might achieved earlier than.
4) Austin Kolodney Is Drawn To True Crime, However He Does not Need To Be Pigeonholed In That Style
Cary Elwes as Michael Grable in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’. Picture: Row Ok Leisure
When requested about what it was that actually him about this story, Austin Kolodney admits that he loves true crime, however that he additionally has the flexibility to put in writing different genres.
Austin Kolodney: I might be mendacity if I mentioned that I did not like an excellent crime film. Numerous nice American movies are crime films, and I do not know if true crime is essentially how I wish to nook myself as a storyteller. I’ve had a pair different scripts written previous to this one that are not in any respect on this realm. I proceed to see, I suppose, any article or ebook or footage of a real occasion that has a personality that could be very wealthy and really textured and seems like somebody that I’d wish to see on the display for an hour and a half, two hours. That is what attracts me to it. It is extra the particular person, the prison, I suppose, not essentially the act of crime, it is the character and the three-dimensionality of the person who’s on the middle of it, is what attracts me to a narrative.
5) Invoice Skarsgård Nearly Wasn’t The Lead Of ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’
(L to R) Dacre Montgomery and Invoice Skarsgard in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire.’ Picture: Row Ok Leisure.
Director Gus Van Sant admits that he thought Invoice Skarsgård was nice for the lead position of ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’, however particulars how he virtually did not take the position.
Gus Van Sant: I had tried to get Invoice in one other movie that was simultaneous. It was canceled proper about the identical time that I used to be becoming a member of onto ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’, and I had requested him to play a smaller half, and he mentioned it might be fascinating if he wasn’t enjoying a lead some place else. So I used to be pondering of him for some time, simply working with him, and placing him into issues the place he wasn’t even the lead character. I hadn’t labored with him. On this case, he appeared to work for the lead character. So I circled and mentioned, oh, there is a lead character on this one. He was busy. So he was becoming it in between tasks. However yeah, he appeared to be recreation. I imply, partly, possibly as a result of I labored together with his dad, Stellan (Skarsgård) in ‘Good Will Looking’. He had truly come to the set, however he was like 7 years previous. There is a image I’ve of him and the large household that was visiting Stellan.
Al Pacino as M/L/ Corridor in ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’. Picture: Row Ok Leisure
What’s the plot of ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’?
The movie is impressed by the 1977 Indianapolis hostage standoff involving Tony Kiritsis (Invoice Skarsgård) and facilities on the escalation of a public confrontation formed by negotiation, media consideration, and regulation enforcement response.
Who’s within the forged of ‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’?
‘Lifeless Man’s Wire’ opens in theaters on January sixteenth. Picture: Row Ok Leisure.
Listing of Films Directed by Gus Van Sant:
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