The new trailer for Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi epic, The Creator, has landed, courtesy of 20th Century Studios. In this final look at the film before its opening later this month, the young AI child curiously inquires Joshua, played by John David Washington, what heaven is. This poignant moment happens to almost any young person who is curious about faith and humanity and soul, but here, it kicks off the philosophical ambiguity of Edwards’ film.
The official synopsis for The Creator reads,
“Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.”
John David Washington (Tenet), Gemma Chan (Eternals), Ken Watanabe (Inception), Sturgill Simpson (Dog), newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles, and Allison Janney (Juno) lead the cast. Gareth Edwards directs from a screenplay he wrote with Chris Weitz, based on a story by Edwards. Edwards produces alongside Kiri Hart, Jim Spencer, and Amon Milchan. Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Natalie Lehmann, Nick Meyer, and Zev Foreman executive produce.
Edwards decided to take a seven-year break after he completed work on the Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One. The director returns with this AI-ccentric film in seemingly impeccable timing as the Hollywood movie business struggles with its own war between humans and the issue of AI. At a Q&A for The Creator, Edwards stated, “The setup of that movie is pretty much the last few months.” He expounded, “I have a trick with A.I. is to get the timing as a sweet spot window where it’s before the apocalypse and not after, which I think it’s in November — maybe December — and so, I think we got really lucky. The joke would be that when you write a film, especially a science fiction film, I try to avoid putting a date … at some point, you have to so, I picked 2070. Now I feel like an idiot because I should’ve gone for 2023 ’cause everything that’s been unfolding in the last few months is kind of scary and weird.”
The Creator will hit theaters on September 29.