Newly launched distributor Row K Entertainment has set a 2026 release date for Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, the tense, character-driven true-crime drama that has already earned acclaim on the festival circuit.
The film will receive an Oscar-qualifying run on Dec. 12, followed by a limited release Jan. 9 and wide release Jan. 16, 2026.
Based on a true story, Dead Man’s Wire revisits the 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis that stunned the nation. On a frigid February morning, entrepreneur Tony Kiritsis (played by Bill Skarsgård) stormed into a mortgage office, taking broker Dick Hall hostage with a sawed-off shotgun wired from the trigger to his own neck — a setup that became known as a “dead man’s wire.”
The film’s ensemble cast includes Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino, bringing life to a story that grapples with justice, media spectacle, and moral collapse in a nation on edge.
After premiering at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and its North American debut at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, Dead Man’s Wire has been praised for its performances and Van Sant’s signature mix of tension and humanity.
The film is written by Austin Kolodney and produced by Cassian Elwes, Joel David Moore, Tom Culliver, Sam Pressman, Mark Amin, Remi and Noor Alfallah, Andrea Bucko, Matt Murphie, Paula Paizes, and Billy Hines. WME Independent represents worldwide rights.
Row K Entertainment — a new theatrical distribution venture from Media Capital Technologies, with CAA Media Finance as an advisory partner — has also announced upcoming titles including Poetic License, Cliffhanger, and Charlie Harper.
