A hyper-realistic AI video depicting Brad Pitt brawling with Tom Cruise on a rooftop has exploded online, garnering millions of views. There was also harsh criticism from the Motion Picture Association of Japan, which accused the company that developed the artificial intelligence model of “infringement” as Hollywood grapples with how to deal with rapidly evolving technology.
This 15-second battle was created using Seedance 2.0, a new AI video generator owned by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance.
Ruairi Robinson, the Oscar-nominated Irish filmmaker who created the viral clip, said all he gave Seadance was a “two-line prompt” and the tool generated a hyper-realistic fight scene completely on its own.
After the video went viral, the Motion Picture Association called on ByteDance to stop “infringing” copyrighted material.
“Chinese AI service Seadance 2.0 has committed massive misappropriation of U.S. copyright works in a single day,” Charles Rivkin, president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, said in a statement shared with Deadline.
The statement continued: “By launching a service that operates without meaningful protections against infringement, ByteDance is ignoring established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and supports millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activities.”
The AI tool, which BytedDance touts as offering a “hyper-realistic immersive experience,” has been used to generate several more clips that have circulated online, including twists on “The Lord of the Rings,” “Seinfeld,” “Titanic,” “Shrek” and “Spider-Man.”
Rhett Reese, the screenwriter for the films Deadpool and Zombieland, said he is “terrified” by the technology’s potential impact.
“I hate to say it. It’s probably the end for us,” Reese wrote of the brawl video between Pitt and Cruz.
“Soon, one person will be able to sit down at a computer and create a movie that is indistinguishable from anything Hollywood is currently releasing,” the screenwriter continued in a follow-up post. “If that person had the talent and taste of Christopher Nolan (and there will be someone like that soon), it would be tremendous.”
“I’m not at all excited about AI invading creative endeavors. In fact, I’m horrified. So many people I love are facing the loss of their beloved careers. I myself am at risk,” Reese said in his final post. “The Pitt vs. Cruz video shocked me because it was so professional. That’s exactly why I’m scared.”
Hollywood’s attack on AI
The use of AI in filmmaking is a hotly debated topic in Hollywood.
Despite the reluctance of hundreds of actors, musicians, filmmakers, and other artists, AI tools are creeping into modern filmmaking.
In December, Disney signed a $1 billion deal to transfer popular Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters to Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generation AI platform.
Disney also aims to integrate OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT into employee workflows and work with OpenAI to “build new products, tools, and experiences” as part of the agreement.
Bob Iger, former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, said Disney would work with OpenAI “sensibly and responsibly.”
“Technological innovation continues to shape the evolution of entertainment, giving us new ways to create and share great stories with the world,” Iger said in a statement.
Several films nominated for and winning 2025 Academy Awards used AI in their production, including “The Brutalist,” “Dune Part 2,” “Emilia Perez,” and “Completely Unknown.”
After the awards ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences updated its rules regarding eligibility, voting, and campaigns to acknowledge the increased use of AI in film.
The Academy said in a statement that using artificial intelligence or other digital tools to create a film “neither adversely affects nor helps its chances of nomination.” This update provided a new standard to increase the acceptance of AI in film production.
Still, hundreds of actors and filmmakers are calling for stricter guidelines on the use of AI in movies.
In March, more than 400 Hollywood actors, filmmakers, musicians, authors and others signed an open letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, urging the Trump administration not to weaken copyright protections for AI, according to Variety.
The letter included the signatures of Ben Stiller, Paul McCartney, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Simon, Cynthia Erivo, Taika Waititi and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
As reported by Variety, the letter reads: “We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership should not come at the expense of our nation’s vital creative industries.”
“AI companies seek to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for movies, television series, works of art, writings, music, and sounds used to train the AI models that are central to billion-dollar business valuations.”
