A leading Hollywood figure has warned that “this is probably the end for us” after watching a widely shared AI-generated clip of a fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
Rhett Reese, co-writer of Deadpool and Wolverine, Zombieland, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, was responding to a 15-second video posted by Irish director Ruairi Robinson, director of the 2013 sci-fi horror Last Days on Mars, that shows Cruise and Pitt exchanging punches on a rubble-strewn bridge. Reese reposted the video on social media, writing: “I hate to say it. Maybe it’s over for us.”
He added, “Soon, one person will be able to sit down at a computer and make a movie that is indistinguishable from what Hollywood is releasing today. Sure, it would be bad if that person was bad. But if that person had the talent and taste of Christopher Nolan (and people like him are rapidly emerging), it would be tremendous.”
Robinson said the clip arose from a “two-line prompt in Seedance 2,” referring to Seedance 2.0, an AI video generator released Thursday by TikTok co-owner ByteDance.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPA), a Hollywood trade group, accused ByteDance of “massive misappropriation of U.S. copyrighted material.”
AI systems such as chatbots, image generators, and video creation tools are trained on data obtained from the open web, including copyrighted materials such as novels, art, and movie clips. This has led artists and the creative industry to demand compensation for the use of their materials and the establishment of licensing frameworks that allow them to use their content legally. Amid litigation related to these disputes, some creative companies, such as Disney, have signed contracts with AI companies, including OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.
MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin called on ByteDance to “cease its infringing practices,” saying, “By launching a service that operates without meaningful protections against copyright infringement, ByteDance is ignoring established copyright law, which protects the rights of creators and supports millions of American jobs.”
Bevan Kidron, a UK crossbench peer and prominent campaigner against relaxing copyright laws, said AI companies needed to strike deals with the creative industries.
“This is just the latest in a long line of copyright infringement cases, but from conversations with both sides, I honestly think there is a willingness between the AI companies and the creative industries to come to an agreement,” said Kidron, who has also worked as a Hollywood director.
ByteDance has been contacted for comment.
