The future of mankind depends on late-night diners in Norms’ restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in a new film coming out on Friday, Feb. 13.
The darkly comic sci-fi adventure is called “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,” and it stars Sam Rockwell. It’s directed by Gore Verbinski, whose hits include “The Ring” and the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
It was written by Matthew Robinson, whose credits include writing and do-directing 2009’s “The Invention of Lying” with star Ricky Gervais.
The first 10 minutes of the film are set in Norms, where a grungy man staggers in with a bomb, ranting about artificial intelligence.
Sam Rockwell confronts Norms diners in the futuristic comedy “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” (Image courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment)
Norms is fine with it.
“Thank the lord they were OK with this because it would have sucked if we couldn’t use their name,” Robinson said in a phone interview from his home in Sherman Oaks.
“They were graciously willing to let us use Norms, use their iconography, use their actual restaurants. It was so important to Gore and I that we actually had Norms. While it’s not necessarily a brand that’s known far and wide, it’s an institution in Los Angeles.”
Founded in 1949 with headquarters in Bellflower, Norms is a Southern California phenomenon, known for 24-hour breakfast, steak specials and a mid-20th century style of coffee shop architecture called Googie. Norms lists 24 restaurants on its website and didn’t open its first out-of-state location, in Las Vegas, until 2024.
Verbinski personally reached out to Norms and was “especially drawn to the classic diner atmosphere and the rich history of our iconic La Cienega location,” the chain’s representatives wrote in an email.
The La Cienega location dates from 1957 and is always popping, president and chief executive officer Michael Colonna said in a 2024 interview.
“There’s so much activity 24/7, pedestrians as well as auto traffic.”
Also see: In the dead of night, restaurants like Denny’s and Norms are destination dining
The restaurant was one of Robinson’s late-night hangouts.
“When I lived on the east side of Los Angeles, that was always the one I went to. I’m a late night breakfast enthusiast. I love having breakfasts late at night. I used to work nights at different nightclubs in Los Angeles. I would always get off work and go to Norms afterwards, sometimes 3 or 4 in the morning. That was always the great Norms. But when I was a young person, as a child I grew up on the west side of Los Angeles. And there was a Norms on Pico that is no longer there, sadly. But that one I grew up going to. That was sort of my home Norms.”
Robinson came up with the plot of “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” over a meal at Norms.
He described it as a satirical popcorn movie for sci-fi lovers, but one that addresses some serious issues. The Hollywood Reporter called it “a gonzo take on the perils of our techno-dependence.”
“I would be proud to take the gonzo label on this one,” he said. “It came from a few different ideas on technology and finding a way to explore different parts of our technology addiction, whether it’s phone addiction or altered reality addition. Or addiction to guns, which is a large part of American Culture. And exploring all of those through the attempt to save the world from AI, which is sort of the big scary baddie in our world now. Whether or not you think it’s a baddie, in this movie it is definitely the villain.”
Rockwell plays “a man from the future” who claims he has traveled back in time to save the world from AI run amok. He bullies several seemingly random customers into joining him on his mission.
It turns out many of them have complicated relationships with technology that come into play.
Sam Rockwell and Gore Verbinski attend a s[ecoa; screem pf “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” in New York City on Jan. 27, 2026. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Briarcliff Entertainment)
Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña attend a special screening of “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” in New York City on Jan. 27, 2026. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Briarcliff Entertainment)
They include Michael Peña and Zazie Beetz as high school teachers terrorized by their ignorant, cell phone-obsessed students; Juno Temple as a grieving mother roped into adopting a computer-generated son after a school shooting; and Haley Lu Richardson as a young woman in a princess gown who is allergic to tech and Wi-Fi.
They face a number of obstacles, including assassins and a lethal cat video.
The film doesn’t show the tragedy that Temple’s character endures, and Robinson said it doesn’t make light of school shootings.
“As an artist the way that I express frustration is through jokes, through gallows humor if you will, through satire. That’s the only way I know how to express horror and frustration, honestly.”
Verbinski’s crew went to great lengths to recreate the interior of Norms on a soundstage — about 10,000 miles away.
Although the movie is set in Los Angeles, it was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, to lower the budget, according to an interview with Verbinski on the tech news website Gizmodo.
The set design includes Norms’ orange vinyl counter seats, pendant lights, a metallic wall clock and tent cards on the tables. There is also a bottle of Cholula hot sauce that seems to guide the characters on their quest.
“That was Gore. The Cholula hot sauce was not originally in the script,” Robinson said. “Gore and I did a bunch of work adding really fun things, and if you’ve ever seen a Gore Verbinski movie, he loves taking specific objects and making them the object of the movie. And he is a hot sauce fanatic. Definitely I think Cholula is his hot sauce of choice.”
Rockwell’s character eats a Hostess Snoball off a plate later in the movie, which is the basis of a Norms promotion.
Norms’ Sno Balls Hotcakes are a tie-in to the new movie “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” (Photo courtesy of Norms)
Norms is serving shakes topped with Hostess Snoballs for a limited time. (Photo courtesy of Norms)
Through Feb. 28, Norms is serving its signature hotcakes topped with a Snoball, sliced strawberries, cheesecake batter, chocolate drizzle, and a knife garnish that pays homage to the movie. It costs $9.99, with $1 from every purchase going to No Kid Hungry. There’s also a Snoballs milkshake.
Robinson’s go-to breakfast at Norms is more simple.
“I’m a pretty basic guy. I do eggs over easy with bacon, hash browns and toast. If I’m feeling crazy I’ll get a side of some strawberry pancakes.
“And a neverending cup of black coffee.”