Eli Roth Admits ‘Ice Cream Man’ Used AI After Previously Saying It Didn’t: “I Misspoke”

Oh, boy — here comes Eli Roth (him again!), who had initially promised that his latest film, “Ice Cream Man,” used no generative AI. After fans noticed an unusual slickness to the images in the trailer, he’s now admitting that, yeah, his film used some AI.

Roth has released a statement (via Polygon) saying that AI was used in “a very small portion of a few scenes in the film” after social media posts questioning what they saw apparently gave him no choice but to fess up.

“I misspoke,” Roth said in a new statement Tuesday. “AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film. It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life.”

Roth did not specify which scenes used AI, so it’s hard to really know if his “very small portion” claim is accurate.

I mean, listen, Roth has been trying to make “Ice Cream Man” for more than 20 years, after studios repeatedly rejected his pitches. Undeterred, Roth launched his own company, The Horror Section, to finally get his labor of love out into the world. The result is a film, with unknown actors, made for around $7 million, no doubt somewhat aided by AI to keep costs within a modest range.

“‘Ice Cream Man’ follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results,” reads the official logline. The film stars Ari Millen (“Orphan Black”) as the titular character, alongside Roth, Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco, Sarah Abbott, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, and Charlie Storey. Snoop Dogg is handling the soundtrack.

The film arrives unrated, set to screen in 2,000+ theaters this weekend, but is already plagued by disastrous early reviews, amounting to a 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes.