New ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’ film utilized AI for creature design

Editor’s Note: Since reporting this news, director Brian Taylor has said AI was NOT used in the making of the film.

Motionpictures.org revealed shocking news last month: The film utilized AI to develop several creatures. How many? Three thousand, to be precise. Millennium Media’s president, Jonathan Yunger, revealed at a gathering held by law firm Morrison & Foerster and the Motion Picture Association that they weren’t fans of AI, but that changed.

“I was able to make 3000 creature designs in an hour. So now I can start to cherry-pick and edit those and then send it to visual effects,” he said.

This conclusion was determined after shooting a demon character practically for Hellboy: The Crooked Man (due out later this year), but the results were unremarkable. He then turned to AI to aid in the new design using something he built himself.

A hot topic in the comics world, especially in the last two years, it’s unfortunate to hear a Hellboy film, one built on Mike Mignola’s incredible designs and creativity, would ever dabble in using AI at all. Just last week, DC Comics pulled controversial cover art suspected of being produced by generative AI.

While Yunger did say AI won’t replace people, he stressed that AI will be used by people who don’t want to be replaced.

“And that’s why I think it’s important for places like film schools to start to learn how to use these tools and these new technologies to further storytelling. The emotion of a human being will never be replaced,” he said.

Yunger has produced more than 25 films, including The Expendables 4, Wanted Man, and The Enforcer. He is also a producer on Hellboy: The Crooked Man.

“The Crooked Man” is a Hellboy story written by Mignola with art by Richard Corben. According to him, it’s his favorite Hellboy story.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is due out in cinemas in November 2024.

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