AMC Theatres Blocks AI Short Film After Online Backlash Intensifies Hollywood's AI Debate

AMC Theatres Blocks AI Short Film From Screening in Pre-Show Advertising - Decrypt

The backlash lands as Hollywood strengthens its war over AI, with a new industry coalition, A-list stars racing to trademark their own likenesses AMC Theatres has blocked an AI-generated short film from screening at its cinemas, amid an ongoing debate over the use of generative AI tools in filmmaking. The nation's largest theatrical exhibitor said it will not participate in the planned rollout of "Thanksgiving Day," an AI-animated short that won the inaugural Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival and was slated for a two-week run in U.S. cinemas through advertising distributor Screenvision Media, according to film industry trade paper The Hollywood Reporter. The short was slated to appear not in the exhibitors' program at AMC screens, but as part of pre-show advertising supplied through Screenvision, which provides content to AMC and other cinema chains. AMC told THR in a statement that the firm "was not involved in the creation of the content or the initiative and has informed Screenvision that AMC locations will not participate." "Thanksgiving Day," created by Kazakhstani filmmaker Igor Alferov, tells an intergalactic story about a bear and his platypus assistant traveling through space in a dumpster-shaped spacecraft. Alferov used AI tools including Gemini 3.1 and Nana Banana Pro, relying on a keyframing method and anchor frames to guide motion, with post-processing in Topaz Video AI, according to the Frame Forward website. "For me, AI is not a replacement for creativity, but a powerful 'exoskeleton' for the imagination, enabling a single person to build entire worlds," Alferov said in a statement shared on the website. The Frame Forward festival's jury included industry figures David Dinerstein, Richard Gladstein, and Julina Tatlock. In a statement shared with THR, Joel Roodman, President & Head of Studio at the festival's organizer MUS immersive, said that, "The traditional theatrical chains are vital to our cohesion as a society, and are duly cautious" adding that "they may be prudent, but it is important to MUS immersive that new and exciting films, filmmakers, cinematic language and spaces for these shared experiences continue to develop." He added that the company plans to bring content to "our developing network of venues," starting in New York. Decrypt has reached out to AMC Theatres and Frame Forward Festival for comment. The AMC standoff arrives as the entertainment industry's fight over AI shifts from rhetoric to action. In December, the Creators Coalition on AI, co-founded by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and backed by more than 500 signatories, including Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, and Guillermo del Toro, launched to push for enforceable rules governing how AI is trained and deployed across the industry. SAG-AFTRA, which struck for 118 days in 2023 over AI protections, condemned AI-generated "actress" Tilly Norwood last year as "a threat to human entertainers," warning producers they "may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations." Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey recently secured eight federal trademarks, including a sound mark on his "Alright, alright, alright" catchphrase, to deter unauthorized AI replication of his voice and likeness. At a Variety and CNN town hall at the University of Texas at Austin, McConaughey addressed AI concerns alongside his "Interstellar" co-star Timothée Chalamet. "It's coming. It's already here. Don't deny it," McConaughey said. "It's not going to be enough to sit on the sidelines and make the moral plea that, 'No, this is wrong.' It's not gonna last. There's too much money to be made, and it's too productive. So I say: Own yourself. Voice, likeness, et cetera. Trademark it. Whatever you gotta do, so when it comes, no one can steal you." The Oscar winner is also an investor in ElevenLabs, an AI voice company he partnered with last November to produce Spanish-language versions of his "Lyrics of Livin'" newsletter using AI-replicated versions of his own voice.

AMC Theaters Will Refuse to Screen AI Short Film After Online Uproar

But when word leaked online that an AI short film contest winner was going to start screening before feature presentations in AMC Theatres, the cinema chain decided not to run the content. The issue began earlier this week with the inaugural Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival announcing Igor Alferov's short film Thanksgiving Day had won the contest. The prize package for included Thanksgiving Day getting a national two-week run in theaters nationwide. When word of this began hitting social media, however, some were dismayed by the prospect of exhibitors embracing AI content, with many singling out AMC Theatres for criticism. Except the short is not actually programmed by exhibitors, exactly, but by Screenvision Media -- a third-party company which manages the 20-minute, advertising-driven pre-show before a theater's lights go down. Screenvision provides content to multiple theatrical chains, not just AMC. After The Hollywood Reporter reached out to AMC about the brewing controversy, the company issued this statement to THR on Thursday: "This content is an initiative from Screenvision Media, which manages pre-show advertising for several movie theatre chains in the United States and runs in fewer than 30 percent of AMC's U.S. locations. AMC was not involved in the creation of the content or the initiative and has informed Screenvision that AMC locations will not participate." It's not yet clear if other theatrical chains will screen the short instead. Screenvision Media had no immediate comment, nor did the Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival. The film wouldn't represent the first time AI content has played in theaters -- a collection of film festival AI shorts from Runway's 2025 AI Film Festival played in 10 IMAX theaters in August. But this would likely be the first time a narrative AI film received nationwide exposure in cinemas rather than specialty screenings, and could represent another step in the groundbreaking technology marching into traditional Hollywood spaces. Thanksgiving Day film "follows a bear and his platypus assistant who are traveling through the galaxy in a spacecraft that looks like a dumpster. They have to deal with corrupt space-cops, hygiene officials, and a very unusual type of food delivery service as the story unfolds." According to Deadline, Kazakhstani filmmaker Alferov used AI tools including Gemini 3.1 and Nano Banana Pro to make the short and quoted Joel Roodman, president and head of studio for Modern Uprising Studios, saying, "Thanksgiving Day is a masterclass in original storytelling, a wildly inventive journey that balances sharp satire with unexpected emotional payoff, proving that bold imagination with the tools of AI complements the future of animated filmmaking."