OpenAI backs AI-animated film for Cannes debut

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is backing the production of a feature-length animated film created largely with artificial intelligence tools, aiming to prove the technology can revolutionise Hollywood filmmaking with faster timelines and lower costs.

The movie, titled “Critterz,” follows woodland creatures on an adventure after their village is disrupted by a stranger, with producers hoping to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026 before a global theatrical release, they said in statement on Monday.

The project has a budget of under $30 million and a production timeline of just nine months: a fraction of the typical $100-200 million cost and three-year development cycle for major animated features.

“Critterz” originated as a short film by Chad Nelson, a creative specialist at OpenAI, who began developing the concept three years ago using the company’s DALL-E image generation tool.

Nelson has partnered with London-based Vertigo Films and Los Angeles studio Native Foreign to expand the project into a full-length feature.

“OpenAI can say what its tools do all day long, but it’s much more impactful if someone does it,” Nelson said in the news release. “That’s a much better case study than me building a demo.”

The production will blend AI technology with human work.

Artists will draw sketches that are fed into OpenAI’s tools, including GPT-5 and image-generating models, while human actors will voice the characters.

The script was written by some of the same writers behind the successful “Paddington in Peru.”

However the project comes amid intense legal battles between Hollywood studios and AI companies over intellectual property rights.

Major studios including Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against AI firm Midjourney, alleging the company illegally trained its models on their characters.

The film is funded by Vertigo’s Paris-based parent company, Federation Studios, with about 30 contributors sharing profits through a specialised compensation model.

Critterz will not be the first animated feature film made with generative AI.

In 2024, “DreadClub: Vampire’s Verdict,” considered the first AI animated feature film and made with a budget of $405, was released, as well as “Where the Robots Grow.”

Those releases, as well as the original “Critterz” short film, received mixed reactions from viewers, with some critics questioning whether current AI technology can produce cinema-quality content that resonates emotionally with audiences.