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Tag: Doug Liman

  • Bitcoin biopic starring Casey Affleck to use AI to generate locations and tweak performances

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    Killing Satoshi, an upcoming biopic about the elusive creator of Bitcoin, will reportedly rely heavily on artificial intelligence to generate locations and adjust actors’ performances, Variety reports. The film was announced in 2025 as being directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, The Edge of Tomorrow) and starring Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson in undisclosed roles, but its connection to overhyped technology was previously understood to begin and end with cryptocurrency.

    According to a UK casting notice viewed by Variety, the producers of Killing Satoshi reserve the right to “change, add to, take from, translate, reformat or reprocess” actors’ performances, using “generative artificial intelligence (GAI) and/or machine learning technologies.” No digital replicas will be created of performers, but it sounds like plenty of other AI-driven tweaks are on the table. The production’s use of AI will also extend to the setting of its shoots, per Variety’s source. Killing Satoshi will be shot on a “markerless performative capture stage” and things like backgrounds and locations will be entirely generated by AI.

    You guess is as good as mine as to why a film about blockchain technology needs to be filmed this way, but Doug Liman has been connected with plenty of unusual projects in the past, including a rumored Tom Cruise film that was supposed to film on the International Space Station. Killing Satoshi will be far less practical in comparison, and walking a much finer line of what’s acceptable in the entertainment industry.

    A major sticking point in SAG-AFTRA’s 2023 contract negotiations was guaranteeing protections for actors who could be replaced by AI. Equity, the union representing actors in the UK, is currently negotiating protections for members that are concerned that AI could be used to reproduce their likenesses and voices and let studios use them without their consent.

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    Ian Carlos Campbell

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  • What to stream this week: Matt Damon on a heist, ‘Dance Moms’ jazz it up and J Balvin parties

    What to stream this week: Matt Damon on a heist, ‘Dance Moms’ jazz it up and J Balvin parties

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    Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” premieres its final season and a Boston heist movie starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: a new “Dance Moms” series, a “Yo Gabba Gabba” reboot for younger audiences and J Balvin promises an album that hits like a house party.

    NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

    — A poorly planned heist goes terribly wrong in “The Instigators” (Friday, Aug. 9, on Apple TV+), a loosely amiable Boston-set caper starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. The movie, directed by Doug Liman (“Go,” “The Bourne Identity”), returns Damon and Affleck to familiar hometown terrain. They play a despondent pair who try to steal money from a corrupt mayor (Ron Perlman) but end up on the run, with a therapist (Hong Chau) in tow. In my review, I called it “a rudderless but winningly shaggy action comedy.”

    — Jeff Nichols (“Mud,” “Take Shelter,” “Loving”) extends his survey of classically American dramas with “The Bikeriders,” a chronicle of a Chicago motorcycle club in the 1960s. In the film (Friday, Aug. 9, on Peacock), Austin Butler and Tom Hardy star as riders with an antiauthoritarian streak who help found the Vandals, but watch as their club grows beyond their control. In a male-populated film, though, Jodie Comer, as the heavily accented narrator, is closer to the main character. In my review, I called it “a vivid dramatization of the birth of an American subculture.”

    — This month, the Criterion Channel is running two overlapping series: one of movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, one of films starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman was a mainstay in Anderson’s films from the start (he steals “Hard Eight” with one scene) and a central presence in films like “Magnolia,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and “The Master.” The Hoffman series includes plenty other highlights, too; look especially for the exquisitely tender 2010 drama “Jack Goes Boating.” The Anderson series also includes an exclusive streaming of the director’s radiant 2021 coming-of-age tale “Licorice Pizza,” which poignantly starred Hoffman’s son, Cooper.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

    — Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Opus” — the posthumous album and documentary of the same name — was captured while the Japanese film composer was dying of cancer. Across 20 songs, Sakamoto performs a collection of his biggest songs on piano, like the memorable themes for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” and “The Sheltering Sky.” The album also includes the first ever recorded version of “Tong Poo,” from his early days with techno-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra.

    — On Friday, Aug. 9, Colombian reggaetónero J Balvin will release a new full-length project, “Rayo.” Across 15 tracks, he’s promised an album that hits like a house party — just in time for the hottest summer month of the year. “Rayo” is stacked with good time collaborations — reggaetón superstar Fied, regional Mexican musician Carín León, Bad Gyal, Zion, Dei V, Ryan Castro, Blessd and Luar La L among them. The previously released singles, “Gaga” with SAIKO, “Polvo de tu Vida” with Chencho Corleono, and “En Alta” with Quevedo, Omar Courtz and YOVNGCHIMI, embody that spirit. At his party, everyone is invited.

    — Also on Friday, Aug. 9, “Not Not Jazz,” a documentary following the avant-garde, acid jazz-fusion band Medeski, Martin & Wood, becomes available to stream via video on demand. The film follows the improvisational trio as they endeavor to record a new album at the Allaire Studio in Woodstock, New York. It is a peek behind the curtain of their processes, and a celebration of music that is far too often underserved.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    NEW SHOWS TO STREAM

    — The dramatic world of “Dance Moms” returns with a new coach, dancers and, of course, invested moms. In “Dance Moms: A New Era,” mothers hover as eight girls are trained by instructor Glo Hampton, a.k.a. Miss Glo, to compete nationally. The original “Dance Moms” ran for eight seasons and featured breakout stars Jojo Siwa and Maddie Ziegler. It also introduced the world to coach Abby Lee Miller, who was often criticized for being too harsh on her students. Miller was sentenced to a year in prison in 2017 for bankruptcy fraud. “Dance Moms: A New Era” debuts Wednesday, Aug. 7.

    — Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” premieres its final season on Thursday, Aug. 8. The show follows a family of adopted superheroes — who were stripped of their powers in season three — who must work together to stop the apocalypse. Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman and David Cross are new faces in season four alongside regulars that include David Castañeda, Tom Hopper and Elliot Page.

    — The musical cartoon for preschoolers called “Yo Gabba Gabba!” is also getting a reboot called “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” on Apple TV+. The 10-episode series premieres Friday, Aug. 9. It’s hosted by Kamryn Smith as Kammy Kam and brings back other characters from the original.

    — Michael Imperioli, who played Tony Soprano’s protégé Christopher on “The Sopranos,” can’t shake the mob. He’s the executive producer and narrator of a three-part docuseries on five Italian American families who were selected by Charles “Lucky” Luciano in 1931 to rule the organized crime world. “American Godfathers: The Five Families” debuts Sunday, Aug. 11 on The History Channel. It will also stream on The History Channel app, history.com and major TV video on demand platforms.

    — A four-part docuseries adapts historian Donald Bogle’s 2019 book called “Hollywood Black” for MGM+. Executive produced by Forest Whitaker, the series examines the history of cinema through the Black perspective. Creatives including Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield, Gabrielle Union, Lena Waithe are interviewed. “Hollywood Black” premieres Sunday, Aug. 11.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

    — People who love collecting cute monsters and making them fight have long been drawn to Pokémon. This year’s Palworld upped the ante by adding guns to the mix. But what if you just want to cuddle? That’s where 11 Bit Studios’ Creatures of Ava comes in. You’re an explorer on a planet bustling with wildlife — but the creatures are being threatened by an infection called “the withering.” It’s your mission to tame the beasts with your magic flute and help them heal. It’s a cozier take on the old “gotta catch ’em all” formula, and it comes to Xbox X/S and PC on Wednesday.

    — Lou Kesten

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  • Sundance doc looks into Brett Kavanaugh investigation

    Sundance doc looks into Brett Kavanaugh investigation

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    PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A new documentary looks into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and raises questions about the depth of the FBI investigation in 2018.

    “Justice,” from filmmaker Doug Liman, debuted Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival to a sold-out theater surrounded by armed guards.

    The film, made under intense secrecy, focuses on allegations made by Kavanaugh’s Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez that were detailed in a New Yorker article in 2018. Ramirez alleged that at a gathering with friends when she was a freshman in 1983, Kavanaugh pulled down his pants and thrust his penis at her. Kavanaugh has denied those claims. “Justice” also plays a taped recording of a tip given to the FBI from another Yale classmate, Max Stier, that describes a similar incident that the FBI never investigated.

    The Stier report was previously detailed in 2019 by New York Times reporters Robin Pogebrin and Kate Kelly as part of their book “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation.” But the details of it came under scrutiny. After the story was posted online but before it was in the print edition, the Times revised the story to add that the book reported that the woman supposedly involved in the incident declined to be interviewed, and that her friends say she doesn’t recall the incident.

    Stier was not directly interviewed for the film and declined the filmmakers’ request to comment on the contents. An unnamed person whose voice was manipulated for anonymity provided the Stier tape to the filmmakers.

    Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in October of 2018 after a narrow 50-48 roll call following a wrenching debate over sexual misconduct. He strenuously denied the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teens.

    Many people referenced in the film, from Kavanaugh himself to several of Ramirez’s friends who were allegedly there, similarly declined to speak or never responded.

    “Justice” is especially critical of the FBI investigation that took place after the hearings. Through FOIA requests the filmmakers found that there were some 4,500 tips sent to the tipline that went uninvestigated.

    One of Ramirez’s friends from Yale who was interviewed for the film provided text messages in which a mutual friend admits to being contacted by “Kavanaugh’s people” and participated in the narrative that Ramirez didn’t remember things correctly.

    Blasey Ford appears in new footage only in the first several moments of “Justice,” asking Liman, a filmmaker known for “Swingers” and “The Bourne Identity,” why he’s making this film — a question that he doesn’t quite answer.

    In a Q&A after the film, Liman said he was simply outraged after watching her testimony in 2018. The making of the film, which they self-financed, was shrouded in secrecy. Everyone signed nondisclosure agreements, Liman said, and they even had code names for those who agreed to participate. He said that people are “terrified” and that those who came forward are “heroes.”

    Most of the focus is on telling Ramirez’s story — where she came from, how she ended up at Yale and what kind of person she is and was. Several academics specializing in trauma, as well as lawyers, help explain why memory of traumatic events is reliably fractured and how those gaps can be weaponized by prosecutors.

    “Justice’s” surprise inclusion in the festival was announced on Thursday, the first day of the festival, but it quickly became one of the most anticipated films in a slate of over 100. At least part of the reason for something like “Justice” to debut at Sundance is to drum up buzz and secure a distributor. As many of the lawyers in the film say, the stakes are whether or not Kavanaugh perjured himself under oath.

    Asked what he wants to happen when audiences see “Justice,” Liman said, “I kind of feel like the job ends with the film and what happens afterwards in beyond my control.”

    Standing beside him, his producer Amy Hardy said she disagreed. Hardy said she hopes it triggers outrage and leads to “a real investigation with subpoena powers.”

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    Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

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    For more coverage of the Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival

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