Sandra Bullock on AI: ‘We Have To Be Friends in Some Dark Way’

Adario Strange
April 17, 2026

MAN AND ROBOTS: A weekly column from MARS Magazine on AI, Hollywood, and the future of work.

🎬 Bourne Identity Director Bets on AI as the New VFX

1. The next major film project from director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity) will involve two of the most controversial technologies of our time: crypto and AI. Liman’s Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi will tell an interpretation of the bitcoin story, casting Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) in the leading roles.

Leading the production arm of the film is a new company called Acme AI & FX, led by a team of producers with a long track record of blockbuster success in the traditional film business (Fast and Furious franchise, 300, The Social Network, Limitless). Essentially, the team is using AI for VFX to stand in for real locations and even lighting. Shot in London in a massive warehouse over the course of 20 days, the production used gray screen rather than blue screen or green screen, with the gray areas marked for post-production AI work. “We budgeted out what it would be to do it practically and it was over $300 million,” the team told TheWrap. “It has about 200 distinct locations, from Antarctica to Antigua to Vegas, which is obviously unproducible. We realized we could bring down the cost by utilizing some of the AI tools out there.”

According to the producers, rather than $300 million, the production cost about $70 million, which includes 107 human cast members, 100 people to help shoot it, and 54 non-shooting crew members. Additionally, 55 AI artists worked for 30 weeks on post-production to get the AI integration right, which not only includes human actors but also features some physical structures, such as stairways. The film doesn’t have a release date yet, as the team is taking it to Cannes next month in search of distribution.

Why This Makes Sense: While so many in Hollywood are worried about AI taking jobs from actors, the more immediate fundamental shift AI is forcing is how VFX are done. VFX is where most of the budgetary and speed benefits of AI are showing up in film and TV. And for the AI refuseniks out there, it might be helpful for you to know that AI in the way of VFX was central to the production of George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, to name just one example.

What the Acme AI & FX approach reminds me of is Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City and Zack Snyder’s 300. Both use cutting-edge (although, in some ways, old school) approaches to filming actors against green/blue screens to simulate environments and deliver stirring films on relatively modest budgets. Fittingly, Lawrence Grey, one of the founders of Acme AI & FX, was also a producer on 300, so he intimately understands what is possible when you innovate around human actors working in virtual environments. Having read a synopsis of the film, I’m not a fan of how it will elevate at least one real-world player in the crypto space, but as an admirer of Liman’s work, I won’t be able to resist giving this film my attention. We’ll know soon where it lands and when it will be released.

🔈 UK’s Robbie Williams Bends the Knee to AI

2. “A guy I know, 18 months ago, came around with this [AI] program. Put a few prompts in, pressed a button, and a hit came out with my voice. And I was just like, ‘It’s over.’ And then, because I write a lot of songs for my albums, and I’m finding that I can’t find that gold-plated, what you would call a ‘hit.’ And if you do, you might find one or two as you write 80 songs. Press this button on this [AI] machine now and it just does it. It’s over. I have used it for my writing. I write a lot for my Instagram, and I write the thing first, and then I throw the thing into AI.”
–Robbie Williams, singer/actor, Better Man
*Source: CNBC International

📺 Reese Witherspoon Pours Into AI

3. Most of you know Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show, Legally Blonde, Big Little Lies) as an actress. But in recent years, she has become not only a top-tier film and television producer, she’s also a media mogul. In 2021, Witherspoon sold her Hello Sunshine company for $900 million to Candle Media (where she is now a member of the board). So when she gives the nod to a particular space, her Hollywood colleagues as well as her fans pay attention. That’s why her comments on AI, made this week on her Instagram feed referencing her book club, raised a few eyebrows.

“I said to the 10 of them, ‘How many of you guys use AI?’ And only three of them used AI. And then I said, ‘How many of the three of you feel like you really know what you’re doing or they’re using it the right way?’ And that was only one person,” said Witherspoon, while making a smoothie in her kitchen. “So, if three out of 10 women are the only ones using AI, that means 70% of that group is not keeping up. The thing I’ve learned about technology is if you don’t get a little bit of understanding from the very beginning, it just speeds past you. So you have to have little bits of learning just to keep up. And let’s get real, our kids are all using this every single day. I think we should learn the basics together, and learn some really good [AI] tools that are gonna make our everyday lives easier and better… It’s time, people.”

Unlike other celebrities on Instagram who tout AI and rapidly receive negative reactions, the comments on Witherspoon’s video were a lot more measured.

“This isn’t a feminist move IMO, it’s submitting to a technology that is devastating to poor communities and the environment,” said one commenter. “This feels like a setup for some highly sponsored future content,” said another. Nevertheless, a notable number of comments were supportive of Witherspoon’s tech-forward message. As Hollywood picks sides on whether to fight AI or embrace it, it looks like one of the most powerful among them has chosen to embrace AI rather than shun it.

🎞️ Avid Splices AI Into Its Editing Business

4. Hollywood is getting AI whether it likes it or not. Or at least that appears to be the case now that the leading tool for editing video footage, Avid, has teamed up with Google to integrate its Gemini and Vertex AI into what has been the leading editing tool in Hollywood for decades. In practical terms, Gemini is the engine and Vertex AI is the toolkit that allows businesses like Avid to keep its data private and not intermingled with the larger Gemini data ecosystem.

“This partnership with Google Cloud strengthens our ability to deliver secure, AI-driven innovation–while keeping Avid interoperable and adaptable across the broader production landscape,” said Wellford Dillard, Avid’s CEO. “Through our collaboration with Google Cloud, Avid is redefining what’s possible in modern media production by expanding intelligent capabilities across our products.”

Why Now?: This use of AI to help contextualize content is something many companies are experimenting with. Recently, I mentioned how radio staple NPR is planning on using AI to build its own in-house brain that will be able to easily index and retrieve audio content from its library in order to rapidly repurpose its past productions. The idea is the same here with Avid’s AI partnership, which is being framed as a “multi-year” venture. And while competitors like Adobe Premiere Pro, now laced with AI features, Davinci Resolve, and Apple’s Final Cut Pro are generally seen by some as more tech-native, Avid’s new Google AI partnership will likely help keep it firmly ensconced as the leader in the space for film and TV professionals.

🎭 Sandra Bullock Makes Peace With AI

5. “[AI is] here. We have to observe it. We have to understand it. We have to lean into it. We have to use it in a really constructive and creative way, make it our friend rather than — I mean, we have to be incredibly cautious and aware of it because there are people who will use it for evil and not good. I do feel that there’s a place for it… But it’s here. We have to just be friends in some dark way.”
–Sandra Bullock, actress/producer, Gravity, Bird Box, Speed
*Source: CNBC Changemakers Summit