“Civil War,” the most expensive film yet for film industry darling A24, crushed at the box office in its first weekend — but some footage used to promote the film sparked backlash fast and brutal.
The film, which has a production budget of $50 million, follows a group of journalists in the near future, when the United States is plunged into a full-blown civil war. The film dominated the box office in its opening weekend, selling an estimated $25.7 million in tickets in North America – a figure that includes me, since I saw the film on Sunday.
Days after its successful opening, A24 posted a series of images promoting the film on Instagram, but the post quickly sparked outrage over the apparent use of AI.
An anonymous source close to the film told The Hollywood Reporter that the footage was generated by AI. A24 did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
In a first glance at the images, which appeared to show places across America destroyed and war-torn, you might not notice anything out of the ordinary — unless, of course, you’re from Chicago , like me, in which case you probably laughed. loudly when you reached the fifth slide, like me.
The image shows Marina City’s iconic towers, a pair of buildings built in the 1960s that are adjacent to each other and span almost an entire city block on the north side of the Chicago River. Even if you’re not from Chicago, you may recognize their distinctive appearance, famous for resembling a Midwestern favorite: the corn on the cob. (They were also featured on the cover of Chicago-based band Wilco’s beloved 2002 indie album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.”)
The image shared by A24 would certainly be evocative – one of the towers is on fire – if you can get past the fact that the Chicago River somehow flows between the two buildings, meaning that the One of the towers now seems to be placed on an island which does not currently exist.
Theoretically, there could be a time in the future where the landscape of downtown Chicago is fundamentally and absurdly altered to bifurcate the river and create this island, thus making it possible to move one of the towers. But uh, what?
That wasn’t the only aspect of the footage that raised eyebrows, either. One image appears to show soldiers in a boat somewhere near Los Angeles pointing their guns at a giant swan. Maybe the swan is supposed to be a paddleboat, like the ones you can rent on Echo Park Lake? It certainly doesn’t seem like it. Also, if you zoom in, the soldier in the back of the boat appears to have no legs, his upper body floating in space.
Another image that appears to be from Miami features a car that appears to have three doors. And in an image that is apparently meant to depict New York’s Washington Square Park, the historic arch now appears to have a street connecting it to the rest of the park. Other potential AI failures in images have also been reported.
Reaction in the comments was swift, with people accusing A24 of allegedly using AI-generated artwork. “Why do you keep posting these ridiculous posters about AI. Hire a real artist,” said one comment with over 6,000 likes.
“A24 using AI for advertising could be a sign, perhaps the beginning of the end for a company that once relied on an indie aesthetic,” said one comment that received over 3,000 likes about of the company, which partly made a name for itself. for independent films also accessible. “It’s incredibly disappointing.”
The source close to the film who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter said the AI-generated images were intended to convey the potential impact of a fictional civil war.
“These are AI images inspired by the film,” the source told the outlet. “The whole film is a big ‘what if,’ and so we wanted to continue that thinking about the social – powerful images of iconic landmarks with that dystopian realism.”
Some commentators have also questioned the wisdom of A24’s use of AI, given AI concerns raised during last year’s film industry strikes and recent controversy regarding another movie.
Promotion for the horror comedy “Late Night with the Devil” has been bogged down by complaints that the filmmakers used AI. The filmmakers said that, together with their graphics and design team, they used AI for three still images that were later edited and appeared briefly in the film.
The marketing for “Civil War” has been controversial even beyond the use of AI, with some people calling it misleading. For example, none of the scenes depicted in the controversial advertising images appear in the film.
Partly because of the marketing, when I saw the film it was quite different from what I expected, and yet I loved it.
But one of the main reasons I loved the movie was how terribly plausible it all seemed. I felt like I was watching a place I know intimately was torn apart. The result was deeply disturbing, a reaction I imagine the filmmakers wanted.
The images released by A24 don’t do this sentiment – or the film they’re supposedly promoting – justice.
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