Neill Blomkamp’s AI Film Has Fans Asking For District 10 Instead

A handful of filmmakers have begun testing the waters of AI-generated movies, and this week, Gran Turismo director Neill Blomkamp showed off a 14-minute short that was made entirely with the technology. Could the famed director of cult-classic movies like District 9 and Elysium be one of the first people in Hollywood to use generative AI in a way that wasn't met with overwhelming negativity? Probably not, as the comments for Blomkamp's latest project have ranged from apathetic to hostile, with pleas for the filmmaker to make a District 10 film instead.

Blomkamp's project, Nightborne, features 32 AI characters based on real actors, according to him. Clocking in at around 14 minutes, the short film follows a helicopter pilot who has been resurrected into a zombie super-soldier. "I've been experimenting with AI for a couple of years, and it's now at the point where I want to tackle a full feature in this format. This is a 13-minute test start," Blomkamp said online.

Like other AI-generated films, Nightbourne suffers from several technical issues. Characters and assets are hamstrung by various inconsistencies--from injuries to pocket pens--wooden acting, and the overall production having a very uncanny-valley vibe to it. Comments have been less than kind, with celebrated comic book creator Stjepan Seijic dropping a barb of note:

Negative comments aside, Blomkamp seems intent on producing a feature-length movie with generative AI, and he announced that he had created a studio dedicated to the project called Barley Studios. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan's Greek epic The Odyssey has gotten off to a strong start at the box office and is being hailed as one of the best movies of the year. While Nolan has once again emphasized how important the human factor is in making a film like The Odyssey, other opportunistic companies are attempting to ride his coattails by making their own version of an ancient story with generative AI.

While production company Fountain 0 and director Ash Koosha have admitted that their AI-generated project, Odysseus: The Fall, won't be on the same level as Nolan's movie, the people behind it are hoping it'll start new discussions on how AI can be used to make movies.