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Releasing on Jan 9, 2026
  • 2026
  • R
  • 1 h 45 m
  • 2026
  • R
  • 1 h 45 m

Summary The morning of February 8, 1977, Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis, 44, entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took him hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired with a “dead man’s wire” from the trigger to the Hall’s head. This is the true story of the stand-off that took the world by storm...

Directed By: Gus Van Sant

Written By: Austin Kolodney

  • 2026
  • R
  • 1 h 45 m
  • 2026
  • R
  • 1 h 45 m

Dead Man's Wire

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
72
User Score User reviews are not available yet
tbd

Summary The morning of February 8, 1977, Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis, 44, entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took him hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired with a “dead man’s wire” from the trigger to the Hall’s head. This is the true story of the stand-off that took the world by storm...

Directed By: Gus Van Sant

Written By: Austin Kolodney

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
72
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
72
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Sep 6, 2025
80
There’s a subtle, astute parable here about the media’s role in the shaping and streamlining of public morality – happily wrapped in a romp.
By Robbie Collin FULL REVIEW
Sep 4, 2025
80
Dead Man’s Wire is a timely, entertaining reflection on the way the offer of the American Dream often tends to be snatched back.
By David Rooney FULL REVIEW
Sep 5, 2025
75
Van Sant imagines this tale in a way that echoes Dog Day Afternoon: an unhinged and stranger-than-fiction fable about good intentions gone wrong. It’s kind of a hoot.
By Rory O'Connor FULL REVIEW
Sep 4, 2025
70
There’s no doubt that Dead Man’s Wire holds you. It’s Van Sant’s most vital piece of work for the big screen in some time. The movie plays, and part of it is that it triggers our anti-institutional anger.
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
Sep 4, 2025
70
It has plenty of gritty ’70s atmosphere (facial hair! Radio DJs!) and feels grounded in its time and place, but it also has a purposeful whiff of timeliness that tells us it’s as much about today as it is about 1977.
By Bilge Ebiri FULL REVIEW
Sep 21, 2025
63
If Dead Man’s Wire adds up to less than the sum of its vicarious jolts and sardonic jabs, it’s perhaps a result of Gus Van Sant’s style fading into the background.
By Alexander Mooney FULL REVIEW
Sep 4, 2025
60
while there are certainly entertaining moments throughout, Van Sant’s interpretation of this forgotten true crime story is simply not as exciting as it should be – and clearly wants to be.
By Cody Dericks FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

tbd

User reviews are not available for this movie yet.

Details

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Production Company
  • Elevated Films (II)
  • Pressman Film
  • Pinstripes
  • Co Created Media
  • Wrong Turn Productions
  • Artemis
  • Construction Film
  • Va Bene Productions
  • Balcony 9 Productions
  • Edith Productions
  • Film Manufacturers
  • Punch Once
  • SIPUR
  • Velodrome
  • Yo Productions
Release Date Jan 9, 2026
Duration 1 h 45 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline His revolution was televised
View All Details

Awards

Denver Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards
• 1 Nomination
Astra Creative Arts Awards
• 1 Nomination

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