OpenAI is trying to prove to Hollywood that generative AI belongs in entertainment. Its latest bet is Critterz, an animated feature film made with the help of AI tools. It’s scheduled for a Cannes premiere before hitting theaters in 2026.
The film, produced by Vertigo Films and Native Foreign, started life as a short created by Chad Nelson using OpenAI’s DALL-E. Now it’s a full-length movie about forest creatures whose peaceful lives are upended by a mysterious outsider. A simple premise. One OpenAI hopes will showcase what AI can add to the film-making process.
How OpenAI Is Helping
OpenAI isn’t taking over the film. It’s providing the tech backbone. The company is supplying computing resources and AI tools like its video-generation model Sora, to accelerate production. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Sora generates rough video sequences from text prompts. This helps the team quickly test and visualize scenes. Image-generation tools help design characters and backgrounds from sketches and descriptions. Human animators refine the AI outputs, while voice actors still bring the characters to life.
The project has a production timeline of about nine months and a budget under $30 million. That’s a fraction of the years and hundreds of millions it usually takes to make an animated feature.
Will Hollywood Buy In?
Even if Critterz wows at Cannes and draws audiences in theaters, it won’t magically convince Hollywood to embrace AI. Writers, animators, and actors are wary of tools that could erase their jobs.
The 2023 Hollywood strikes showed just how deep these fears run. Beyond labor concerns, there’s a cultural clash. Silicon Valley thrives on speed and disruption. Hollywood works cautiously and with layers of permissions and protections.
Studios have quietly tested AI for niche tasks like pre-visualization, dubbing, or concept art but fully automating creative roles? That’s a line most aren’t willing to cross. Intellectual property headaches, quality concerns, and the risk of homogenized storytelling all stand in the way.
Why Critterz Matters
Critterz is about proving a point about how AI can be an ally, not a replacement. If the movie succeeds commercially and critically it could push studios to take AI more seriously. At least as a tool to speed up production and cut costs.
Here’s the catch: none of the tech matters if the story doesn’t land. Audiences don’t care how efficiently a film was made. They care if it moves them. For AI in Hollywood to have a future, Critterz has to prove it can deliver a narrative with real heart.
OpenAI is trying to rewrite the playbook for animated film-making. Critterz will be the first big test of whether AI can create something that feels emotional, and human. Success won’t erase the industry’s skepticism overnight but it could mark the beginning of a slow cultural shift. In the end, no matter how advanced the tools, Hollywood’s one non-negotiable remains the same: the story has to work.
