Colman Domingo joins an all‑star cast in Dead Man’s Wire, a dramatic hostage thriller directed by Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk), based on a chilling true story from 1977.
Dead Man’s Wire dramatizes the bizarre real‑life hostage standoff involving Indianapolis resident Tony Kiritsis, who wired a shotgun to the head of mortgage broker Richard Hall and held him captive for days. Initially a desperate act born from grief and perceived injustice, the incident quickly captured national attention and became a tense media spectacle.
Bill Skarsgård leads the film as Kiritsis, with Dacre Montgomery portraying Hall and cinema legend Al Pacino as M.L. Hall. Domingo appears as Fred Temple, a local radio personality whose presence becomes integral as the standoff unfolds on the airwaves.
Directed by Van Sant from a screenplay by Austin Kolodney, Dead Man’s Wire has drawn early attention on the festival circuit, having premiered out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2025 and screening at TIFF and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Dead Man’s Wire is shaping up to be a standout in early 2026. The film opens in select theaters on January 9, followed by a wider release on January 16.
