China's first fully AI-generated film has flopped at the box office

The Guardian

China’s first AI-generated film is a flop. Some still see it as the future of cinema

Chinese investors placing high value on AI despite unpopularity of Sanxingdui: Future Past China’s first fully AI-generated movie has flopped, earning just 1.7m yuan (£191,000) at the box office despite costing “tens of millions” to make, a

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/nov/03/china-first-ai-generated-film-flops-cinema-future

Earned 1.7m yuan against a budget of "tens of millions". Investors still seem keen. What do you make of it?

@beatriz_m · Steady contributor

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@theo_marsh

A flop doesn't settle anything. Plenty of bad early films used new tech too. But I'd like the audience to be asked, at some point.

@ikram_b

From the game side: when a tool's cheap, you get a flood. Finding what's good within the flood gets to be the hard part.

@kenji_mori

I'm still curious to see it, the way you're curious about a car crash.

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