A24’s new AI-generated ‘Civil War’ poster causes controversy

A24 releases a series of spectacular new posters promoting the critically acclaimed film civil war.

There’s just one problem. Well, probably more than one. Or nothing, depending on your point of view. Let me explain.

The five images (below) tease the post-apocalyptic landscape of major U.S. cities torn apart by conflict. Inside the smoldering Las Vegas, the Sphere was reduced to a blackened wreck. There is a floating artillery unit on a lake outside of Los Angeles. Troops are on patrol in San Francisco. The streets of Miami are in ruins. Tourist boats carrying refugees are moored in the Chicago River. All scenes suggest the destruction caused by war in symbolic locations.

exclude …These scenes aren’t actually in the movie. Some wonder if the campaign is giving potential moviegoers false expectations about what they’ll see in the movie. civil war A24 was the most expensive film ever made, costing approximately $50 million. However, the visuals make the film look like it was made with twice its budget.

“Nothing like that happens in the movie,” one reader wrote on A24’s Instagram post. “I don’t understand this campaign. You’re selling a movie that doesn’t exist and it’s very strange. I love A24 with all my heart but I’m so confused by what happened with this movie.”

Another potential issue is that because the images are generated by artificial intelligence, there will be some backlash to the use of this technology. The AI’s work also resulted in some notable geographic and landmark mistakes, as well as a bit of “uncanny valley” oddity. For example, his two Marina Towers buildings in Chicago are actually on the same side of the river, but in art they are on opposite sides. Meanwhile, photos of the wreckage in Miami show a car with three doors. Some believe that the giant swan on the Los Angeles lake is a similar AI failure, but it was probably a paddle steamer. However, it doesn’t really look like a paddle steamer either.

“I know how the movie industry feels about the use of AI-generated content,” one reader wrote. “And the backlash was [to AI generated stills featured in the horror film] Until late at night with the devil It was more than enough to make it clear to everyone that “we don’t want this.” How stupid of the marketing team to even think this is acceptable. We are doing everything we can to combat the pressure to open Pandora’s Box with this shit, and yet you are willfully ignoring everyone’s concerns on this issue. ”

The ad was posted on Instagram and used as a physical poster in several locations. Officials close to the film said the images help imagine the impact the film’s fictional war would have across the country. A source said, “These are AI images inspired by movies.” “The whole movie is a big ‘what if’, so we wanted to continue that idea with powerful images of iconic landmarks with social and dystopian realism.”

Recent Until late at night with the devil Controversy seems like the closest comparison, albeit a fairly imperfect one. For the IFC Films/Shudder release, AI was used to create several title cards for his 1970s late-night talk show that appear in the film. This usage received strong backlash on social media. The film’s directors, Cameron and Colin Cairns, defended its use, saying: The images we further edited will eventually appear in the film as very short interstitials. ”

Either way, this marketing effort is sure to create a buzz online. civil war We are entering our second weekend. The film, written by writer and director Alex Garland, significantly exceeded expectations and set a record debut for the studio with $25.7 million. After some debate over the film’s political nature, exit polls showed that the number of moviegoers who identified as liberals and conservatives was equal.

Ironically, previously civil warGarland is perhaps best known for his 2014 directorial debut. Ex MachinaA movie that warns of the dangers of AI.