In Just Play Dead a powerful billionaire manipulates his unfaithful wife and her lover into executing the perfect murder, his own, setting in motion a deadly game of deception where every move is calculated and no one is truly in control.
“Just Play Dead is a story about control, who believes they have it, and how quickly it can shift,” says director Martin Campbell, an internationally renowned director best known for Casino Royale, GoldenEye, and The Mask of Zorro, films defined by high-stakes storytelling, emotional momentum, and large-scale cinematic craft.
“What drew me to the material was the precision of the concept and the chance to build tension through character and performance rather than spectacle. The film is grounded, contained, and deliberately composed, with the setting reflecting the characters’ surface calm and inner instability.” says Campbell.
“Just Play Dead is a kind of delicious film noir, dark comedy about three people who are plotting to murder each other. This web is spun by Jack Wolfe, who always tells everyone the absolute truth, and everything he says is a complete lie,” says screenwriter Dan Gordon.
Just Play Dead marks Gordon’s 26th feature-length film. He is the Screenwriter of Wyatt Earp, The Hurricane, and Rambo: Last Blood. He won the Best Screenplay Award / Writer’s Guild of Canada for 2023’s Irena’s Vow, authored the stage adaptations of Rain Man, which premiered at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, and Terms of Endearment in the New York production, as well as his original play Irena’s Vow, which enjoyed successful productions on Broadway and at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. In addition, he is the author of eleven novels.
The thriller Just Play Dead follows wealthy criminal mastermind Jack Wolfe (Samuel L. Jackson), who plans to fake his own death to escape federal charges and collect a massive insurance payout, while framing his wife Nora’s surfer lover, Chad. But Nora (Eva Green), suffocated by Jack’s control, has her own plan: kill Jack for real and keep everything for herself. What follows is a darkly comedic, twist‑heavy battle of wits as each tries to outmanoeuvre the other, culminating in an explosive showdown where only one scheme can succeed.
