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In an interview with IndieWire, filmmaker Gus Van Sant talked about the parallels between his new film, Dead Man’s Wire, and the recent real-life case of Luigi Mangione, who had recently been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York.

Dead Man’s Wire is a crime thriller set in the 1970s that focuses on the real-life abduction and killing of Richard Hall, an Indianapolis banker, by a disgruntled Tony Kiritsis. The film is based on a script by Austin Kolodney and includes cast members Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Al Pacino, Colman Domingo, Myha’la, and Cary Elwes. It had its premiere earlier this week at the Venice International Film Festival.

Van Sant told his interviewers that he’d been in Los Angeles in 1977 but was initially unaware of the Indianapolis shooting because he did not have a television at the time. “If there was this moment where they broadcast live, in L.A., then I missed it,” he added. “Possibly, their national quote-unquote broadcast was limited to the Midwest or the stations that were near Indianapolis, but I hadn’t read about or heard about it, even.”

In his recent interview, Van Sant noted that Thompson’s murder had taken place in December of 2024, just a few months after Dead Man’s Wire had begun production. “We realized we were making something that had a similarity to it,” the director was quoted as saying, referring to the fact that the slayers of both Montgomery and Thompson have been romanticized as folk heroes. “We realized we were making something that had a similarity to it,” Van Sant declared. “I was having this discussion with almost everyone my age of the acceptance of that particular Mangione incident and who the health company CEO was, and the person I was talking to had friends that knew [Thompson].”

Discussing the romanticization of Thompson’s murder, the director reflected on how vigilante actions have become “kind of a new thing for today’s generation.” Van Sant added, “[There are] extreme reactions to certain things, that I’m not necessarily able to understand, in generations.”

Van Sant earned Oscar nominations for Best Director for Good Will Hunting and Milk. The acclaimed director is also noted for films such as My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, and Elephant, the latter of which was inspired by the Columbine school shootings.

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