We’re already seeing how generative-AI tools are able to create moving images from text prompts, and now OpenAI wants to prove that such technology can create Hollywood-worthy animated feature films.

The company behind ChatGPT and the text-to-video generation tool Sora has partnered with a couple of production companies to make a movie called Critterz that it plans to debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in May ahead of a global theater release, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The movie, which according to the Journal is about “forest creatures who go on an adventure after their village is disrupted by a stranger,” will be “largely” made using OpenAI tools. 

The idea for Critterz came from Chad Nelson, a creative specialist at OpenAI. Working with London-based Vertigo Films and Los Angeles-based Native Foreign, the plan is to make the animation in nine months — less than a third of the time it would usually take using regular production methods. And with a reported budget of less than $30 million, the cost of making the movie will be significantly lower than that of other animations using traditional techniques.

Notably, the script for Critterz was written by humans and not AI, with some of those who penned Paddington in Peru part of the team. Human artists, too, have been hired to draw sketches that OpenAI’s tools will then work with, and human voice actors — not AI-generated imitations — will be given roles in the movie.

However, compared to a regular animation feature, the crew is tiny, with only “roughly 30 people” working on Critterz. 

The news of OpenAI’s bid to create an animated feature film comes as the entertainment industry grapples with questions about how far to deploy AI technology in the movie-making process. While many creatives see AI as a serious threat to their livelihoods, major companies remain eager to experiment with the technology in the hope of boosting their business. As for Critterz, if it’s a big success, the movie could trigger a shift in Hollywood and the wider film industry toward greater use of AI for the production of animated features.