‘The setup of that movie is pretty much the last few months’: ‘Rogue One’ director’s new sci-fi proving more timely than he could have imagined

If you wanted to release a movie about AI taking over the world, there probably hasn’t been a better time than now. The rise of AI has been a trope in cinema for some time, but it hasn’t been as big a current issue in real life as it is today. Now, the director of The Creator is discussing how the release of his AI apocalypse film has proven so timely.

You may remember Gareth Edwards as the director of one of Star Wars’ biggest critical film successes of the last decade, Rogue One. Now he is back in the sci-fi seat as he brings us The Creator, a story set in a future where AI has taken over. Though we may not yet have reached the stage where AI is ready to take over the world (we hope not at least) the battle against AI is already upon us in the form of the war being waged between creatives and studio executives.

The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes set the stage for the first battle between humans and AI, as writers and actors push for control of how AI is used in the entertainment industry. The Creator is released in this ongoing battle, and Edwards opened up about how his film’s timely release mirrors this ongoing battle.

Reported on Deadline, in a Q&A during a sold-out screening of his film in an IMAX, Edwards joked,

“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,”

He went on to talk about how he picked the date for his film’s story to take place, and how he thinks he may have chosen too far in the future given what is happening right now.

“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.”

What’s even funnier is that when Edwards pitched his story to studios they asked why a war between humans and AI was a good premise for the film, looking back today he can state, “The setup of that movie is pretty much the last few months.” If there is one thing he hopes for audiences to take away from the film, is not so much fear for AI and the future, but “Empathy for others. I think that’s a strong value that is very important.”

The Creator will be released in theatres on Sep. 29.