Amid the ongoing discussions surrounding artificial intelligence’s role in the realm of Hollywood, Gareth Edwards is set to unveil his own cinematic portrayal of the battle between humans and AI.
Entitled ‘The Creator,’ a project helmed by Edwards as both writer and director, the film stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, and newcomer Madeleine Voyles. The latter takes on the role of a robot possessing cataclysmic power, housed within the form of a young child. During an IMAX screening and Q&A session held in Los Angeles on Tuesday, which broadcast key scenes from the film and featured a conversation with the filmmaker, Edwards quipped about his fortunate timing, saying, “There’s a sweet spot window where it’s before the robot apocalypse and not after — which I think is in November or maybe December.”
While Edwards aimed to avoid dating the futuristic conflict, he eventually chose 2070 after researching, even though, in light of recent events, he joked, “Now I feel like an idiot because I should have gone for 2023, because everything that’s unfolded in the last few months or a year is kind of scarily weird.”
“When we first pitched the movie to the studio, this idea of a war with AI, everyone wants to know the backstory like, ‘Hang on, why would we be at war with AI?’ ‘Well, they’ve been banned because it kind of went wrong.’ ‘But why would you ban AI? It’s going to be great,’ and blah, blah, blah,” he shared. “It was all these sort of ideas that you have to set up that maybe humanity would reject this thing and not be that cool about it. And the way it’s played out, the setup of our movie is pretty much the last few months, it’s kind of strange. Go see it before November, because that’s when we’re going to be enslaved.”
Edwards, known for directing ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and ‘Godzilla,’ revealed that ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ influenced his creation of ‘The Creator.’ Filmed across 80 different global locations with minimal green screen usage, the movie’s inception dates back to 2018. Edwards noted, “It did feel back then like this was 30 years away… It really wasn’t on my radar back then in terms of being a reality.”
He delved into the film’s unique perspective on AI, sharing, “When this film began, I obviously didn’t know AI was going to do what it ended up doing this last year, so in the fairy tale of this story, AI was like the other; people who are different to us that we kind of want to get rid of or naturally have conflicts with.” As the narrative evolved, the concept of AI raised intriguing questions, such as their authenticity, the possibility of shutting them down, and their desires. Edwards noted these complexities became as powerful as the movie’s premise itself.
Reflecting on the casting process, Edwards recounted his encounter with John David Washington during the pandemic, revealing that Washington wore a Star Wars mask to their dinner meeting. To find the AI child star, a global casting call led them to Madeleine Voyles, whom Edwards described as a “director’s dream.”
Among the film’s unexpected background actors were nuclear physicists encountered during location scouting in Thailand. Initially denied access to a particle accelerator lab, the team’s fortunes changed when the staff learned Edwards directed ‘Rogue One,’ leading to their enthusiastic participation in the film.
The live fan event occurred at the AMC Century City IMAX Theatre and was broadcast to nine other IMAX theaters across the United States, with sold-out shows. ‘The Creator’ is set to release in theaters on September 29.
