Matthew Libatique Says Darren Aronofsky’s Next Film Will “Experiment” With AI

Darren Aronofsky has certainly been one of the strongest advocates for AI usage in movies. He produced Eliza McNitt's short "Ancestra," which premiered at Tribeca. Next came the Revolutionary War series "On This Day… 1776," which was mocked online for its waxy, plastic look. That was followed by the DeepMind-backed short "Goodnight, Lamby," which gave the studio its Cannes Official Selection debut this year.

Now, we have Aronofsky's longtime DP, Matthew Libatique, at Evolution Mallorca to receive this year's Cinematography Icon Award, telling Variety that the two are running AI tests before shooting their next feature together.

We've discussed it. We're doing a test soon. I have a belief that the more you give to the system, the more it's gonna have what you're looking for. He wants to see how little you can do; we both want to learn more about it.

That's no surprise, given that Aronofsky also launched his AI studio Primordial Soup last year in partnership with Google DeepMind. That being said, Libatique insists the movie itself won't be some prompt-generated experiment:

We're gonna make it like a movie. We're gonna stand on set. Darren is gonna get on his knees, and he's gonna move everything around with his fingers... I don't think it's replacing what he does, but he's interested.

Despite all that, Libatique remains firm that AI won't replace cinema, but "what it could replace is Marvel." He predicts the MCU will use it to cut VFX costs, though not to replace stars: "You can't tell me you're going to make an AI character that can do what Robert Pattinson does."

He even called Zack Snyder's green-screen-heavy "300" "basically our early AI movie," before admitting: "Nobody's going to make 'Sentimental Value' with AI."

Libatique has been Aronofsky's go-to since their 1993 AFI short "Protozoa," shooting "Pi," "Requiem for a Dream," "The Fountain," "Black Swan," "Noah," "mother!," "The Whale" and last year's "Caught Stealing." His three Oscar nominations came for "Black Swan," "A Star Is Born" and "Maestro," and his résumé also includes "Iron Man" and "Inside Man."

So what's the movie? Aronofsky has several projects in play. After "Caught Stealing," he and Sony might continue their partnership with an untitled erotic thriller written by "Gone Girl" author Gillian Flynn, and while he's closed a deal to produce, he's expected to also direct. His next directing gig could also be that "Cujo" remake for Netflix, or the Dwayne Johnson thriller "Breakthrough” for A24.