Geoff Zanelli is an American composer whose work spans film, television, and video games. Early in his career, he contributed additional music to scores by Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Ramin Djawadi, Danny Elfman, and Steve Jablonsky before moving into solo projects. He won a Primetime Emmy for his score to Into the West and now brings his experience to Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, a film that shifts rapidly across genres and tones, requiring a score capable of keeping pace.
The film follows a man claiming to be from the future, played by Sam Rockwell, as he takes a Los Angeles diner hostage, insisting that humanity faces extinction through distraction and indifference. Drawing on the cultural paranoia of They Live, the social decay of Dawn of the Dead, and the technological anxieties of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the story reframes these ideas for a present dominated by screens and short attention spans. As the standoff escalates, persuasion gives way to coercion, and the narrative throws unexpected turns at every stage.
In a conversation with CinemaChords, Zanelli breaks down how he crafted a score that keeps pace with the film’s fast-moving shifts between satire, suspense, and dark humour, and weighs in on what the rise of AI could mean for music and creativity.
The Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die soundtrack from composer Geoff Zanelli is out now on all streaming platforms. A limited-run vinyl edition is also available for pre-order exclusively via the Epitaph webstore.
