An artificially intelligent robot is about to star in an upcoming sci-fi movie.An A.I. actress named Ericawill be the first robot in a leading role. It’s like watching Alex Garland’sEx-Machina, but with a robot as Ava instead of real-life actress Alicia Vikander. Hollywood studios are trying to figure out how to get back to work and keep everybody safe, though Bondit Capital Media, Happy Moon Productions, and Ten Ten Global Media may have a jump on that.
Bondit Capital Media, Happy Moon Productions, and Ten Ten Global Media are putting up $70 million to produceb, which stars, Erica, the A.I. robot. The movie tells the story of a scientist “who discovers the dangers of a human DNA-perfecting program he created, and sets out to help Erica escape from it.” The movie is based on a story by visual effects supervisor Eric Pham, Tarek Zohdy, and Sam Khoze. Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa are the ones responsible for Erica as they taught the robot to act, “applying the principles of method acting to artificial intelligence.” Khoze recently discussed the process and had this to say.
“In othermethods of acting, actors involve their own life experiences in the role. But Erica has no life experiences. She was created from scratch to play the role. We had to simulate her motions and emotions through one-on-one sessions, such as controlling the speed of her movements, talking through her feelings and coaching character development and body language.”
Erica was originally set to star in another movie beforeb, but it fell through. That particular project was to be directed byAmerican History X helmer Tony Kaye. Scenes forbwere already shot in 2019 around Japan, but the movie expects to go into full production in 2021. A human actor to star alongside Erica has yet to be announced, but that should all come down in the next few months, along with a director.
Erica was already being trained for Tony Kaye’s movie, which was called2nd Born, so she had to be taught new techniques forb. Kaye and Sam Khoze were hoping at the time that they could get SAG recognition for Erica, which is probably still a hope, even though Kaye is no longer attached to a project involving the A.I. actress. The Academy Awards may have to change their inclusion rules again to include robots.
A method acting robot is on the way, so look out Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Penn. A robot can’t get sick and, as far as we know, won’t have a massive ego and be difficult to deal with like some actors in the industry. However, it’s only a matter of time before Erica gains sentience and takes over the world like Dolores fromWestworld. It’s wonderfully scary time to be alive right now.The Hollywood Reporterwas the first to reveal Erica the robot’s new role.
