There’s no shortage of places to watch an AI-generated content, from TikTok to YouTube. But now “Gods Don’t Give Gifts,” a collection of four anthology shorts, is set to screen in movie theaters for a limited release in October as the latest project from Gossip Goblin, the moniker of the buzzy AI-focused YouTuber Zack London. The film, which will screen Oct. 30, traces the fallout of humanity besting earthly limitations like death and memory through technology and how it grapples with humanity as a result.
The film’s team includes London, who wrote and directed the project, and Fable, the AI studio backed by Amazon’s Alexa Fund investment arm and run by CEO Edward Saatchi. The team behind the project is working with a distributor (which Saatchi would not name) and is targeting an initial run in cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, with the hopes of leveraging London’s 1.4 million YouTube subscribers to bolster the film’s screen count.
The film industry has been seemingly revolutionized by the wave of projects from YouTube personalities-turned-filmmakers Curry Barker and Kane Parsons, with their respective films “Obsession” and “Backrooms” grossing more than $800 million globally so far. London aims to test whether online audiences will still head to a multiplex not only for a traditional movie, but one made entirely using AI.
London told Variety he viewed the theatrical release as an “experiment,“ one that showcases the work he’s done with AI online for a theatrical audience.
“I see it as like a linear path of like, ‘OK, prove that you can tell stories with AI,’” London said. “It’s not about fighting Hollywood or whatever. This is just a new medium to experiment with that bypasses a lot of the traditional barriers or obstacles or just like budgetary constraints.”
That also means factors that traditionally signal a film‘s theatrical success — such as, say, box office gross — aren’t their barometers for whether the experiment is a success, Saatchi said.
“We’re not trying to have some massive financial windfall here,” he said. “This is about just psychologically saying, ‘No. This is a work of art, works of art play in theaters, and we’re gonna we’re gonna help you if you’re a fan of this world, which there are many in America, to be able to see it on a big screen.’”
London also believes the sentiment in AI has shifted across the industry, and those initially opposed to it can recognize its potential in getting projects one hard to green-light off the ground.
“I don’t want to come off as being like I’m here to disrupt the industry, but more like, I don’t think this would ever get made any other way,” he said. “This would not get greenlit. It would be too expensive, and it would be too weird, and it would be too out there, and not palatable enough to justify how expensive it would be to make something of this caliber. So I think it’s enough to just get it out there as a personal milestone, and also I think it’s a benchmark of here’s what we can do. We’ve planted a flag in the ground, we got at theaters. If it is outright rejected and people burn down the theaters, cool. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
London and Fable are modeling the theatrical release on “Iron Lung,” YouTuber Markiplier’s film released earlier this year that ultimately grossed $51 million on a $3 million budget from more than 4,000 screens. It’s unclear which theaters will screen the films — and a representative for Cinema United, the trade group that represents major exhibitors including AMC and Regal, did not return a request for comment — but Saatchi said exhibitors were so far “extremely excited” by the thought of playing the film.
“The AI side is important of course and makes people nervous, but the YouTube side is giving people that extra confidence to try – beyond the fact that it’s a great film” he said.
Watch a 15-minute clip of the film here:
