AI-generated David Cronenberg movie causes online stir

David Cronenberg made some of the most visually striking sci-fi and body horror movies of the 1980s, with films like Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly standing as classics. But one movie he didn’t make that is making the rounds on the internet as of late is 1985’s Galaxy of Flesh. In fact, nobody made it at all, as it’s completely AI-generated.

Last week, when music video and commercial director Keith Schofield tweeted out the stills, it caused various degrees of backlash–some from David Cronenberg fans and others evidently against being duped. You can see the original tweet below:

Explaining why he posted the images–again, generated by AI technology and not a lost film–Keith Schofield said it was for Cronenberg fans, writing, “the post was intended for real David Cronenberg fans who have his filmography committed to memory.” One upset fan tweeted, “Congrats on stealing art to make a fake movie that looks nothing like the work of the man you’re presenting it as.” This individual may have a point, as Galaxy of Flesh doesn’t quite scream Cronenberg. Although there are elements of both Cronenberg and even Ridley Scott, what catches the eye most about the images is that they feel like they’re from an entirely other version of filmdom. Could a human come up with something like this? Considering its source, maybe not.

Keith Schofield hasn’t just posted images of fake David Cronenberg movies, but stills from other fictional movies that the universe absolutely needs. There’s Federico Fellini’s adaptation of beloved arcade game Pac-Man, Michel Gondry’s take on Hellraiser and something called Chrome Lords, described as “a shameless ripoff of Terminator and Robocop, but it features some incredible visuals and an insane mythology.” Schofield says he used Midjourney–“an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species” (woah!)–to complete the projects.

Schofield, who has directed music videos for the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Charlotte Gainsbourg and The Ting Tings, said, “The intention wasn’t to create clickbait, but I think it turned into that…There’s no real intent behind this title beyond, Oh yeah, this looks like this could be that…But it seemed to really set off people.”

In the meantime, if you want to watch a real David Cronenberg film, his most recent, Crimes of the Future, has earned strong reviews. His next, The Shrouds, which he described as partly autobiographical.

What do you think of the images of David Cronenberg’s fake Galaxy of Flesh? Is there a place for such work or should it be shut down before it gets out of control? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!