Doug Liman's Killing Satoshi, starring Pete Davidson and Casey Affleck, will shoot entirely on a markerless performative capture stage in the UK with no real locations, according to a UK casting notice reported by Variety.
All backgrounds and scenery will be AI-generated. The casting notice states producers reserve the right to "change, add to, take from, translate, reformat or reprocess" performances using generative AI, including adjustments to lip, facial, and body movements.
No AI-generated actors. Producer Ryan Kavanaugh told Variety: "We will not have any AI-generated actors that do not exist. AI is a tool we're using to make the filmmaking process more efficient while maintaining all department heads' jobs, all actor jobs." A reference to AI actors in the casting notice was included in error, according to a production source.
Union implications are significant. The production's approach sits at the center of SAG-AFTRA's ongoing negotiations with studios over synthetic performances, name/image/likeness protections, and consent frameworks.
Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) wrote the screenplay. The film follows the pursuit of Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Production begins late February.
Worth watching: This is one of the first narrative features from a major Hollywood director to fully commit to AI-generated environments and AI-assisted performance adjustments from the start. The consent framework baked into the casting notice and the union response will set precedent for how productions handle synthetic performances going forward.
