Steven Soderbergh Teases Use of AI in Upcoming Movies

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Generative AI has been a hot topic for a few years, sparking both concern and enthusiasm about its impact on film and television. Some filmmakers, like Vince Gilligan, strongly oppose its use – his show Pluribus even includes a disclaimer stating it was created entirely by humans. James Cameron, the director of Avatar, was initially skeptical but now sees potential for AI to significantly reduce the cost of visual effects, potentially by as much as half.

Director Steven Soderbergh, known for films like Ocean’s Eleven and Magic Mike, recently shared his thoughts on AI in an interview with Filmmaker magazine, suggesting he’s open to its possibilities.

As a movie lover, I’ve been exploring what AI can really do, and I’ve been using it on a documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono we’re finishing up. It’s been amazing for creating these really dreamlike, surreal images – things that feel emotional and atmospheric rather than strictly realistic. Honestly, getting the AI to do what you envision takes a lot of careful direction – almost like you need a degree in literature to explain it! But like any tool, it absolutely needs a human being closely guiding it every step of the way.

The new documentary centers on a three-hour interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, recorded just before Lennon’s death in 1980. Director Steven Soderbergh says the film will be mostly made up of archival photos, but about 10% will feature newly created, dreamlike visuals. These images appear when Lennon and Ono discuss more abstract or philosophical ideas, offering a visual interpretation of their thoughts.

And that’s the beginning of Soderbergh’s interest in generative AI technology.

Steven Soderbergh Foresees Using “A Lot of AI” in Spanish-American War Movie

Although AI will only feature in about 10% of the upcoming John and Yoko documentary, director Steven Soderbergh has much bigger plans for the technology. He’s envisioning a film about the Spanish-American War of 1898 that would heavily utilize AI. While the project is still in early stages – Wagner Moura is currently the only confirmed actor – Soderbergh seems eager to embrace AI whenever he moves forward with it.

Steven Soderbergh is known for his rapid filmmaking pace, releasing at least one movie every year since 2017, and often more. He directed two major hits, Traffic and Erin Brockovich, both in the year 2000. Given that generative AI promises to speed up the production process, it’s not surprising a director like Soderbergh is interested in exploring it.

However, this progress will likely mean job losses, which Soderbergh appears to accept. He explained that the main advantage of new film technology is the ability to work faster and with smaller teams.

Generative AI essentially learns by using existing work, often without giving credit to the original creators – which raises concerns about plagiarism. Some companies, like InterPositive (now owned by Netflix), are trying to avoid this by building AI systems that only use footage from a specific project, ensuring it learns solely from the work of the current creators. However, even these systems could still lead to job losses, particularly in visual effects.

Steven Soderbergh’s new movie, The Christophers, out this weekend, appears to be largely free of artificial intelligence. However, the story feels remarkably timely. It centers on an art forger, played by Michaela Coel, who is hired to complete paintings started by a renowned artist (Ian McKellen). After the artist’s death, these completed forgeries are presented as his original work so his children can profit from their sale – despite the fact that the paintings are both stolen and fake. It feels a bit too obvious, honestly.

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2026-04-08 18:33