Gus Van Sant unveils his latest feature, Dead Man’s Wire , out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this evening. The thriller/dark comedy is based on a true story about a former real estate developer who took the president of the Meridian Mortgage Company hostage in 1977 Indianapolis, armed with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun — that itself was armed with a “dead man’s wire” — and demanding $5 million and a personal apology.

Bill Skarsgard stars as Tony Kiritsis, who went on to become something of an outlaw folk hero, and Dacre Montgomery plays the banker, Richard “Dick” Hall. The cast also includes Myha’la , Al Pacino, Cary Elwes and Colman Domingo .

Van Sant this afternoon told the Venice press corps that he was intrigued by the project on one hand because of its Mid

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