Who wants to see deep-fake Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eric Trump on a 60-foot screen? Apparently, Doug Liman. Per Deadline, Liman’s AI-aided epic about bitcoin’s origins, Bitcoin, will deep-fake the world’s wealthiest tech tycoons and dictators to tell the story of the digital currency that continues to fleece society’s most sigma. Starring Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot, Pete Davidson, and Isla Fisher, the movie, formerly known as Killing Satoshi, will reportedly feature AI versions of Bezos, Zuckerberg, Trump, Jack Dorsey, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, all of whom apparently want to stop Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. If that wasn’t enough to scare off audiences, there will also be a “nod” to Elon Musk.
These roles will be performed by other actors and enhanced through the waxy and uncanny magic of the AI craze that’s all the rage with college students. However, it should be noted that the news of the inclusion of these AI ghouls contradicts previous reporting about the film. During The Wrap‘s April set visit, the production was quick to highlight that no AI would be used on any actual actors.
In the film, Affleck plays Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who claimed to be part of the original Bitcoin team and the person behind the Satoshi pseudonym. If Wright were Satoshi and had access to his bitcoin wallet, Wright would be the world’s wealthiest man. Meanwhile, Gadot plays a journalist profiling him and should probably ask him for his password.
Bitcoin, which is seemingly moments away from advertising itself as “guaranteed to make audiences vomit in their laps” for a variety of reasons, was made for $70 million, a markdown from $200 or $300 million, according to Liman. Movies about men checking their digital wallets online and posting rocketship emojis on Reddit aren’t cheap, especially when the film jumps from office to office around the world. So rather than using the pricey lighting rigs and distant locations that make going to the movies worthwhile, Liman is using a “markerless performative capture stage,” which sounds like a fancier way of saying this thing will look like those grey Star Wars TV shows. But hey, at least the film will feature unlikable characters that look as bland and lifeless as Ted‘s deep-faked Bill Clinton.
