Paul Schrader told The Playlist he plans to use AI-generated performers for the leads of Three Guns At Dawn, a crime thriller he originally wrote about three Black brothers who are a corrupt police officer, a drug dealer and a sex offender, Film Stories reports.
According to Schrader, the project once had Antoine Fuqua attached as a producer, but it stalled when the script went out and no Black actors wanted to appear in a film with no good Black characters. Then AI came along, he said, and he no longer needed Black actors.
The project is separate from his latest drama, The Basics Of Philosophy, which recently premiered at Venice. The veteran writer-director, whose career runs from Taxi Driver to First Reformed and Master Gardener, has previously described generative AI as just another tool for filmmakers.
Film Stories calls the plan troubling, arguing it shows how AI could be used to replace already marginalised performers, or to tell stories about communities that those communities would not choose to tell, while conceding it cannot know what in the script put actors off. It predicts the results will look uncanny.
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