AI-Generated Film Heads to Theaters in December With an Oscar Bid

An AI-generated film, titled "Gods Don’t Give Gifts," is set to debut in U.S. theaters on December 4. The creators behind the film hope it will be nominated for an Oscar in the best animated feature category. "Gods Don’t Give Gifts" is an anthology of four short stories created by AI-focused YouTuber Gossip Goblin, whose real name is Zack London.

The project is being developed by Fable, an AI studio backed by Amazon. The company initially planned to release the film on October 30, but postponed the date to align it with the traditional awards season.

Fable has not yet announced a distributor for the film, leaving open the possibility of how widely it will be distributed. The studio, however, promises a traditional marketing campaign, including screenings for Academy voters and critics, and a billboard campaign in Los Angeles next month. This raises a question that Hollywood has long debated: Can a film largely created using AI-generated images earn a place among traditional animated movies, or will the industry's awards body reject it?

To explore this question, it is helpful to examine how a YouTube creator's AI project made its way into cinemas, as well as the rules the Oscar campaign will face. Zack London built a substantial following by releasing AI-generated stories set within his "Gossip Goblin world," which comprises 13 "cycles" of human history. "Gods Don’t Give Gifts" takes place in the second cycle and explores the consequences of humanity overcoming limitations such as death and forgetfulness through technology, and how people cope with these consequences. The film satirizes society's relationship with AI.

London describes the anthology as "part speculation, part critique," arguing that using AI to examine AI follows an old artistic tradition. He believes the tools allow a small team to build "an extravagant world, down to its smallest prop," with fewer committees and constraints. Fable and London are following a path paved by YouTubers Kane Parsons and Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier, who leveraged their online audiences to create box-office hits. Backrooms earned $401 million, while Iron Lung earned $51.2 million.

The Motion Picture Association has rated "Gods Don’t Give Gifts" as an R, making it the first fully AI-generated feature to receive such a rating. To be considered for an Oscar nomination, the film must have a human at the heart of its creative authorship, as per the Academy's rules. The Academy has stated that generative AI tools neither help nor harm a film's chances of receiving a nomination, and each branch will judge the degree to which a human was involved in the creative process.

Despite these rules, the project may face challenges. The Academy reserves the right to request more information about how the film used AI. One potential barrier is the film's violence, as only one R-rated film, Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion movie "Anomalisa" in 2015, has ever received a best animated feature nomination. December will reveal whether audiences embrace the film, while the awards season will determine whether the Academy recognizes it as a serious contender.