The story had this weird barnstormer energy: Gus Van Sant on his comeback film ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

Los Angeles, Oct 27 (PTI) "Good Will Hunting" director Gus Van Sant, who is making a comeback with the 2025 film "Dead Man's Wire", says he has always been attracted to stories that are based on "real things".

Sant, also known for biographical drama "Milk" and hits like "My Own Private Idaho", "Elephant" and "Promised Land", last directed the 2018 film "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot" starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black.

"I think a lot of the films I’ve made, even unintentionally, have been based on real things...That’s a genre, I guess. I’ve always been drawn to what makes people do what they do," he told Variety.

"Dead Man's Wire", written by Austin Kolodney, is based on the true story of kidnapper Tony Kiritsis in the 1970s. The film is heavily influenced by the 2018 documentary "Dead Man's Line", directed by Alan Berry and Mark Enochs.

The documentary explored the incident where Kiritsis tied a gun to his mortgage broker Richard O's head in a way that the gun would go off if he tried to escape or Kiritsis was shot. He held Hall hostage for 63 hours.

“When I read the script, there were links embedded in it — you could click them and hear the real 911 calls. Tony talked so fast, like Scorsese on a cocaine bender, cracking jokes and losing his temper. I thought, ‘This is an amazing character,'" the director recalled.

“The story had this weird barnstormer energy... We were meeting in the Soho House, and the producer said, ‘We have to start shooting in Louisville in two months'," he added. PTI SMR BK BK