Overview
- In interviews published Tuesday, Steven Soderbergh said about a tenth of John Lennon: The Last Interview uses AI-generated video and that Meta provided tools to finish those sequences.
- The documentary builds images around John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s final radio conversation on December 8, 1980, pairing the audio with mostly archival photos and film.
- Soderbergh said the AI functions like visual effects to create metaphorical scenes rather than to fool viewers, citing surreal bits with crying babies in Sixties outfits and cavemen acting out themes Lennon raises.
- Sean Ono Lennon and the Lennon estate supported the approach, with Sean telling Soderbergh his father liked to try new technology and would have wanted to engage with it.
- The film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival from May 12 to 23 as debate over generative AI in entertainment grows and the Oscars now emphasize human-performed roles in eligibility rules.