I, Robot director Alex Proyas says his viral comments about Tesla’s robots looking like his movie’s designs were a joke

Last Updated on October 18, 2024

Elon Musk’s Tesla, the brand that has been known for its electric, self-driving cars recently unveiled even more cutting-edge designs which push the envelope and could revolutionize the future of robotics as we know it. It all seems like a plot right out of a movie, and Alex Proyas, who directed the 2004 Will Smith sci-fi vehicle I, Robot, recently took to Musk’s home turf on social media to call out his product’s designs. Proyas, in what he’s now saying was just a joke, implied that the Tesla models are too eerily similar to the designs from his Issac Asimov adaptation.

In Proyas’ post, he writes the caption, “Hey Elon, Can I have my designs back please? #ElonMusk #Elon_Musk” while displaying side-by-side comparisons of the newly revealed Tesla Optimus Robots and driverless vehicles with his own film’s designs.

Many responses to Proyas’ accusations on social media came to Musk’s defence and pointed out that Tesla’s designs seem more inspired by science-fiction sources that predate the director’s 2004 movie. Another person posted a picture of a futuristic train design from the 30s with the caption, “This 1936 design?” Additionally, another commenter pointed to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis as inspiration for the robot and Art Deco-era locomotives, as well as the 1939 Duesenberg Coupe.

Following the avalanche of criticism, Proyas took to social media to clarify that his comments were meant in jest, writing, “the internet seemingly doesn’t understand a joke” on his social media.

Proyas hasn’t minced words this year when it comes to his past properties. He has been very vocal about the new The Crow remake. In the build-up to the reboot’s release, Proyas shared a screen shot of The Guardian’s review, which called the film “unfathomably awful.” Later, he commented, “Wow. The reviews are brutal.” And when the box office numbers came in, revealing that the new The Crow had an opening weekend of just $4.6 million, Proyas said, “Box office is a bloodbath.” He added, “I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab. Not much cash to grab it seems.” He and The Crow ’94 screenwriter David J. Schow both shared an image saying they had been “Marked safe from seeing Crow 2024 today.” Proyas then shared a link to a negative review of the reboot on YouTube, commenting, “I love how enraged this (reviewer) gets. Is that a “thumbs down”? Maybe they can lend their DCPs to film schools for classes on how NOT to make a movie? The theatres sure won’t need ’em after next weekend.” He ended with a laughing emoji. Sharing a negative review in Spanish, Proyas asked, ““Gigantesque Insulte!”? Is that good?” Again with a laughing emoji. In his most recent post, he shared a review that called the reboot the worst movie of the year and said, “The review we’ve all been waiting for. It’s a bit like flogging a dead horse now so I think I’ll stop after this… until another funny one comes along!” So it’s safe to say that Proyas is really enjoying the reboot’s failure.