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Entertainment·The Trace·Model-prefilled trace·Published 2026-07-20

use of AI for technical film work including sets, lighting and surreal imagery in commercial movie production

Source article: Why are respected film-makers suddenly embracing AI?

In Steven Soderbergh’s beguiling new movie The Christophers, a reclusive artist (Ian McKellen) tangles with the quiet art forger (Michaela Coel) who his greedy children have hired to secretly finish further entries in a well-known painting series. The movie is smart and provocative about the nature of artistry and authorship, exploring what it means to create – and to stop creating. It’s especially fascinating coming from Soderbergh, who has made movies with workhorse dependability (The Christophers is his third…

TRV-2026-0295JournalismPermanent record — cite & verify
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Contested: both sides are scored from claims and sources, not community votes.

P 55The P score combines the specificity and measured human impact of the grounded problem claim with the strength of this Trace’s cited sources.G 54The G score combines the specificity and measured human impact of the grounded gain claim with the strength of this Trace’s cited sources.
Why are respected film-makers suddenly embracing AI?

Publisher image: The Guardian.

The quick read

In April 2026 coverage, Steven Soderbergh said he used generative AI for surreal dream-space images in a John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary and plans extensive AI for a Spanish-American war film, while other filmmakers including James Cameron, Doug Liman and Darren Aronofsky were described as investing in, joining boards of, or using AI for sets, lighting and web series.

The shift matters because the same tools that can be invisible with time and human touch are already being credited with cutting a $300m budget to $70m, raising questions about whether cost savings will come at the expense of visual quality for routine movies and of craft jobs, and whether audiences will be trained to ignore widening quality gaps.

Main points
  • Steven Soderbergh said he used generative AI to produce thematically surreal images for a John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary and plans a lot of AI for a Spanish-American war film.
  • Doug Liman's AI-dependent bitcoin movie is described as using actors and human crew but AI-generated sets and lighting, with a claim its budget was pared from $300m to $70m because of AI.
  • James Cameron joined the board of StabilityAI while saying generative AI alone will have no place in his Avatar world, and Ben Affleck invested via a startup while Casey Affleck stars in the Liman project.
Gain

When given proper time and human oversight, AI tools for sets, lighting and imagery can produce film visuals that are effectively invisible and sharply reduce production budgets.

Problem

Routine use of AI-generated sets, lighting and imagery in typical film productions risks further visual degradation and enables plagiarism and crew displacement framed as mass layoffs.

The rundown

Soderbergh's comments came while promoting The Christophers, described as his third theatrical release in 18 months after a four-year retirement from features, and he called reaction to his AI remarks mystifying.

The piece contrasts Soderbergh and Cameron's qualified interest with more promotional stances from Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon, and cites Guillermo del Toro saying he would rather die than use AI.

It draws an analogy to the shift to digital cinema cameras, which Soderbergh adopted early including shooting on an iPhone, noting that while some directors use digital brilliantly, on average the bad stuff looks worse.

Sources

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