Gal Gadot has offered insight into her involvement in Doug Liman’s AI-enhanced film, Bitcoin, detailing her cautious approach to the evolving role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. Speaking on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, Gadot acknowledged her fear of AI but conveyed a pragmatic acceptance, stating, ‘the train has left the station,’ and that filmmakers must ‘work with it or be out of the game completely.’ Her strategy involves protecting specific aspects of filmmaking while adapting to the industry’s progression.
Her commitment to this balance was evident in the six months her legal team dedicated to negotiating her contract for Bitcoin. This extensive negotiation focused on ensuring that AI technology would be exclusively applied to post-production sets and lighting, without any alteration to her performance. Gadot explicitly expressed her desire to safeguard her portrayal from AI manipulation, leading to a contract that reportedly served as a reference for SAG as it updated its actor protection guidelines.
The production of Bitcoin, directed by Doug Liman and starring Gadot, exemplifies a new approach to filmmaking. Principal photography was completed in a mere 20 days, largely within a ‘gray-box’ soundstage. Gadot described this experience as a ‘pure art form,’ noting that the absence of traditional lighting setups enabled non-stop shooting for up to 10 hours daily. Following principal photography, generative AI was employed to create all 200 distinct locations and the corresponding lighting for the film during post-production.
This innovative use of AI also had a significant impact on the film’s budget. Producers claim that the use of AI reduced the film’s budget from an estimated $300 million—which would have been required for a traditional production involving numerous global locations—to approximately $70 million. An alternative estimate suggested that AI reduced ‘below-the-line’ costs from $120-$130 million to around $40 million, a figure that includes research and development for the AI system itself. Despite the prominence of AI in environmental creation, the production maintained a substantial human element, involving 107 cast members and 154 crew members (encompassing both shoot and non-shoot personnel), alongside traditional wardrobe and props departments. The film is currently undergoing a 30-week post-production phase, engaging 55 AI artists.