The director of the Marathon reveal cinematic brief has expressed his disbelief that he feels pressured to come out and defend the work as “not AI.”
The Marathon cinematic brief, under, is over eight minutes lengthy and units the scene for Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter with a voice solid that features the likes of Elias Toufexis and Ben Starr. It was written and directed by Alberto Mielgo, who created The Witness for Netflix’s Love, Dying & Robots, and gained an Oscar for The Windshield Wiper in 2022.
In an Instagram post, Mielgo hit out at those that accused the Marathon cinematic of being constructed utilizing generative AI, insisting it took 155 employees months to put collectively.
“I can’t consider we’ve reached a level the place I have to make clear this, however right here it goes: this isn’t AI,” Mielgo stated. “HELLO. Every thing you see on this movie: work, animations, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and renders executed with enormous staff — 155 unbelievable individuals and hell of hours, days, months… Sure, our Achilles’ heel: time.”
He continued: “Many of you ask me what my opinion on AI is… Actually, I don’t know. However one factor is for certain: AI won’t ever take away my (your) urge or pleasure for making artwork and portray. That half won’t ever get replaced.”
As expertise improves, it’s turning into more and more troublesome to inform the distinction between movies created by way of generative AI prompts and conventional animation efforts. And with a lack of laws forcing generative AI disclaimers onto output, audiences are left to attempt to work it out themselves.
The problem over what’s generative AI and what isn’t has spilled over into the realm of deepfakes, too, with a quantity of celebrities hitting out on the expertise. In July, it was reported that John Wick star Keanu Reeves pays a firm a few thousand {dollars} a month to get the likes of TikTok and Meta to take down imitators.
In the meantime, Mielgo seems to have additionally addressed the Marathon plagiarism controversy that rocked Bungie earlier this 12 months. The Game Post reported that Mielgo replied to one Instagram remark to say the incident was overblown, however these feedback at the moment are deleted.
Marathon has definitely endured a troubled growth. After having a September 2025 launch date set (the cinematic was launched when this launch date was nonetheless deliberate), Bungie delayed the sport into 2026 to make changes primarily based on suggestions from playtests.
The stress is certainly on Marathon to succeed amid Future 2’s high-profile struggles. Earlier this month, father or mother firm Sony stated the studio had failed to meet its gross sales and person engagement targets, leading to a $200 million impairment cost.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.