It feels like this has been the year of artificial intelligence. With the rise of ChatGPT, AI-generated art, and more, it’s clear that this technology could have major ramifications for the entertainment industry. While speaking with Collider, Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo spoke about the future of AI and how long it could be before we see it used to generate an entire movie.
“So potentially, what you could do with it is obviously use it to engineer storytelling and change storytelling,” Joe Russo said. “So you have a constantly evolving story, either in a game or in a movie, or a TV show. You could walk into your house and save the AI on your streaming platform. ‘Hey, I want a movie starring my photoreal avatar and Marilyn Monroe’s photoreal avatar. I want it to be a rom-com because I’ve had a rough day,’ and it renders a very competent story with dialogue that mimics your voice. It mimics your voice, and suddenly now you have a rom-com starring you that’s 90 minutes long. So you can curate your story specifically to you.“
When asked if he could guess how long it would be before the first completely AI movie is released, Joe Russo predicted, “two years.” It’s been wild to see how quickly AI has progressed, and also a little frightening, which means that we apparently need AI to… protect us from AI. “I’m on the board of a few AI companies, I’m gonna speak from my experience of being on the board of those companies is that, there are AI companies that are developing AI to protect you from AI,” Russo said. “And unfortunately, we’re in that world, and you will need an AI in your life because whether we want to see it developed or not, people who are not friendly to us may develop it anyways. So, we’re going to be in that future. The question is, then, how we protect ourselves in that future?“
The next project from Joe and Anthony Russo is Citadel, the rather pricey spy series starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as two mind-wiped secret agents.
“Eight years ago, Citadel fell. The independent global spy agency—tasked to uphold the safety and security of all people—was destroyed by operatives of Manticore, a powerful syndicate manipulating the world from the shadows,” reads the official synopsis. “With Citadel’s fall, elite agents Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) had their memories wiped as they narrowly escaped with their lives. They’ve remained hidden ever since, building new lives under new identities, unaware of their pasts. Until one night, when Mason is tracked down by his former Citadel colleague, Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci), who desperately needs his help to prevent Manticore from establishing a new world order. Mason seeks out his former partner, Nadia, and the two spies embark on a mission that takes them around the world in an effort to stop Manticore, all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies, and a dangerous-yet-undying love.”
Citadel premieres on Prime Video on April 28th with the first two episodes, with weekly episodes to follow until the finale on May 26th. As for Joe Russo’s prediction, do you think we’ll be seeing AI movies within the next two years?