'Dead Man's Wire' Press Conference With Gus Van Sant

'Dead Man's Wire' director Gus Van Sant and writer Austin Kolodney discuss adapting this true story for the screen and reveal behind-the-scenes details.

(L to R) Kelly Lynch, director Gus Van Sant, Al Pacino and Colman Domingo attend Row K’s 'Dead Man’s Wire' Los Angeles Premiere at The Grove AMC on January 7, 2026 in Los Angeles.

Set in 1977 and based on a true story, 'Dead Man's Wire' follows Tony Kiritsis, a former real estate developer who puts a dead man's switch on himself and the mortgage banker who did him wrong, while demanding $5 million and a personal apology.

Moviefone was in attendance at a recent press conference, in which director Gus Van Sant and writer Austin Kolodney shared behind-the-scenes details and discuss adapting a true story for the screen.

1) Gus Van Sant Was Interested In 'Dead Man's Wire' Because It Was Going To Be Filmed Almost Immediately

(L to R) Dacre Montgomery as Richard 'Dick' Hall and Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in 'Dead Man's Wire'. Photo: Row K Entertainment

When asked about what drew him to the project, Gus Van Sant shockingly explains that it mostly had to do with the shooting timeline.

Gus Van Sant: I joined on with the knowledge that it was shooting in Louisville, Kentucky. And it was shooting very quickly. This was September of last year, and Cassian Elwes, the producer, was planning to shoot in November. I was intrigued by the whole situation of having to do something right away and not even knowing what it was about. Kind of… I didn't really say yes. I did read the script before I said yes.

2) Austin Kolodney First Heard About Tony Karitsis On A Podcast

Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in 'Dead Man's Wire'. Photo: Row K Entertainment.

Writer Austin Kolodney first heard about this true story on a podcast and wondered to himself why it wasn't a movie. So he wrote a script.

Austin Kolodney: I first heard it mentioned on a podcast. A producer, Jamie Vernon, had mentioned the name and the crime, and I had my antenna up. This is the height of COVID in 2020, during that summer. And I was actively looking for something to write. I had written a couple other features, like smaller indie things that I would want to direct, but I was like, I need to try and get something made soon to pay off credit card debt, get the career started, I can't just keep Lyft driving. So, I was actively looking for something that I think would be a movie, and when I heard about Tony, went down this rabbit hole, some podcasts, there's a great dollop episode about him, and then there's this one YouTube video that I used as a hyperlink, because it had this 5-minute summation of this really grainy texture, archival footage shot, highlight reel ofTony slipping on the ice, and cracking jokes at the cops, and laughing at them, and getting them to laugh with him, and then asking for water, and having to hold the gun and drink it like a baby bird, and for some reason that crystallized the movie for me. I'm like, how has this not been made into a movie? So I started developing it as a movie.

3) Austin Kolodney Included Hyperlinks To Videos In His Initial Script

(L to R) Dacre Montgomery as Richard 'Dick' Hall and Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in 'Dead Man's Wire'. Photo: Row K Entertainment

Gus Van Sant says that Austin Kolodney's inclusion of hyperlinks in the script helped him to understand who Tony Karitsis really was.

Gus Van Sant: You could see very clearly the guy, Tony Karitsis' personality, partly due to the hyperlinks that were connected in the script to his actual voice. You could hear the real guy, who was very intriguing, and so within just a few moments, I don't know that I wasn't conscious of I guess it was obvious that he was a desperate underdog character that resembled other characters that I'd done before.

4) Austin Kolodney Is Drawn To True Crime, But He Doesn't Want To Be Pigeonholed In That Genre

Cary Elwes as Michael Grable in 'Dead Man's Wire'. Photo: Row K Entertainment

When asked about what it was that truly interested him about this story, Austin Kolodney admits that he loves true crime, but that he also has the ability to write other genres.

Austin Kolodney: I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like a good crime movie. A lot of great American films are crime movies, and I don't know if true crime is necessarily how I want to corner myself as a storyteller. I've had a couple other scripts written prior to this one that aren't at all in this realm. I continue to see, I guess, any article or book or footage of a true event that has a character that is very rich and very textured and feels like someone that I would want to see on the screen for an hour and a half, two hours. That's what draws me to it. It's more the person, the criminal, I guess, not necessarily the act of crime, it's the personality and the three-dimensionality of the person that's at the center of it, is what draws me to a story.

5) Bill Skarsgård Almost Wasn't The Lead Of 'Dead Man's Wire'

(L to R) Dacre Montgomery and Bill Skarsgard in 'Dead Man's Wire.' Photo: Row K Entertainment.

Director Gus Van Sant admits that he thought Bill Skarsgård was great for the lead role of 'Dead Man's Wire', but details how he almost didn't take the role.

Gus Van Sant: I had tried to get Bill in another film that was simultaneous. It was canceled right about the same time that I was joining onto 'Dead Man's Wire', and I had asked him to play a smaller part, and he said it would be interesting if he wasn't playing a lead somewhere else. So I was thinking of him for a while, just working with him, and putting him into things where he wasn't even the lead character. I hadn't worked with him. In this case, he seemed to work for the lead character. So I turned around and said, oh, there's a lead character on this one. He was busy. So he was fitting it in between projects. But yeah, he seemed to be game. I mean, partly, maybe because I worked with his dad, Stellan (Skarsgård) in 'Good Will Hunting'. He had actually come to the set, but he was like 7 years old. There's a picture I have of him and the big family that was visiting Stellan.

Al Pacino as M/L/ Hall in 'Dead Man's Wire'. Photo: Row K Entertainment

What is the plot of ‘Dead Man’s Wire’?

The film is inspired by the 1977 Indianapolis hostage standoff involving Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) and centers on the escalation of a public confrontation shaped by negotiation, media attention, and law enforcement response.