Genre: Science Fiction.
Studio:
Warner Brothers.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase: Development Hell.
Who's In It:
Unknown.
Who's Making It:
Stanley Kubrick (Director); possibly based upon a short story by Brian
Aldiss.
Premise: Only snippets of the storyline have been announced. The show is set in the 21st Century at a time when the Greenhouse Effect has melted sections of the polar icecaps, leaving Earth's coastal cities partially submerged. One of the new tools Mankind utilizes to manage this environmental disaster and survive is a new form of computer, one that is self-aware of its own existence - an artificial intelligence, known as an A.I. computer.
Release Date: Unknown.
Comments: First announced in fall 1994 as Kubrick's next official project, following 1987's Full Metal Jacket. When the project was announced, Kubrick commented that he had the concept of the film for a number of years, and was now actively developing the project based upon the breakthrough in special effects and computer animation in Jurassic Park. With the advancements made in digital illusion, Kubrick felt that now was the right time the images from inside his mind could be translated faithfully to the screen. As with all previous Kubrick films, expect the show to be as much a drama as a collection of futuristic imagery.
Soon after the project was announced, a strong rumor arose on the Internet claiming that the Kubrick project was developed from a Brian Aldiss short story. Specifics of the plot are extremely scarce, so it cannot be confirmed presently.
Developments:
April, 1996... A.I. is scheduled by Kubrick to be next on his directing slate after his work on Eyes Wide Shut is complete, sometime in the fall of 1996. [Thanks to Todd Dupler.]
Rumors: Summer, 1995... A strong rumor circulating in the special effects industry mentions that Stanley Kubrick met with Industrial Light & Magic supervisor Dennis Muren to discuss effects work for A.I..
December, 1995... With little information on the status of the project, the discussion of the likelihood of A.I. making it at all to the screen begins. Although the Aldiss premise has not been confirmed, rumors float about that the storyline is being re-tooled, with a de-emphasis of the submerged coastal cities (echoes of Waterworld spin in the thoughts of some studio exec, somewhere I'm sure). As well, now there's talk of the project being re-titled Supertoys (and no, Robin Williams is not in it).
Week of December 24, 1995... Finally, there's news of a new Stanley Kubrick feature coming down the pipeline. Warner Brothers have confirmed that the project, simply titled "Stanley Kubrick Untitled", is in pre-production. However, no word if it is the A.I. project that is reported to be his next film. Tagged to star in this new project are Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, with Frederic Raphael doing the screenplay. Tentative start date is July, 1996. More news as we get it, kiddies.
Scoop Feedback:
January, 1996... The new Kubrick project is going to be titled Eyes Wide Shut, and it's going to be a romantic-comedy or romantic-thriller. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have signed pay-or-play contracts, and shooting is tentively scheduled to begin in Spring '96. Development on A.I. remains stuck in special effects R&D, but not dead. [Reported by Sean P. Gormally.]
April 2, 1996... Development on A.I. is in the final stages of set design and special-effects development, reports Associated Press. Kubrick plans to return to direct involvement with the project after completing Eyes Wide Shut. [Scoop feedback by Todd Dupler; originally reported by AP.]
June 2, 1996... A long, unsubstantiated rumor is that A.I. actually began production years ago with Joseph Mazzello (Tim from Jurassic Park) starring. [Scoop sent in by 'hansolo'.]
June 16, 1996... The Aldiss short story in question would be "Supertoys Last All Summer Long", which has been reprinted in a few of his short story collections. [Scoop submitted by 'Godai'.]
June 28, 1996... An interesting scoop arrives at CA, so intriguing that we decided to let you see it for yourself and make your own decision about it:
"Kubrick, as we well know, has had A.I. in development for several years now. The narrative follows the development of a child and his inter-relation with the technology that surrounds him. We can safely assume here that this technology will be represented by the AI.
"The trick is that the film traces the boys development, not over weeks or months, but YEARS.
"Kubrick began shooting with Joseph Mazzello (Tim from Jurassic Park) as early as 1992. The film shoots four weeks at a time every couple of years with Joseph at a different age.
"Kubrick discovered Mazzello. Spielberg found out that Kubrick was directing a remarkable young actor when he was screen testing Jurassic Park...The rest is history.
"Another rumour centres around Kubrick begining the A.I. effects shots optically but halting them as soon as he was privy to the JP CGI Dinos." [Scoop submitted by the enigmatic 'shape'.]
January 18, 1997... With principal photography now complete on Eyes Wide Shut, word is Kubrick wants to begin A.I.. A quick start is planned for. [Scoops sent in by 'pyazdi', Stefan, 'mkingsley', Joe Hanna.]
May 17, 1998... The latest issue of the Swedish fashion magazine Bibel may have just revealed the premise of the long-lost A.I. film. The magazine features an interview with Chris Cunningham, director of the Madonna video Frozen and Aphex Twin's video Come to Daddy. In the piece Cunningham says that he designed robots for Kubrick's A. I., being quoted as saying "I spent a year in Kubrick's house putting them together." According to the article Cunningham also says that the film is actually about a boy who is a robot. [Big thumbs up to our Swedish friend David I for the scoop!]
Despite rumours to the contrary, we're told that Joseph Mazzelo will NOT be starring in A.I. The rumour started because Mazzelo was under a two-year contract with Kubrick for a role in The Aryan Papers, an adaptation of the Holocaust-era novel Wartime Lies. But when two years had passed (during which Kubrick allowed Mazzelo to appear in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands) and Aryan Papers failed to materialise, Mazzelo was at last released from his contract. The Mazzelos have since decided not to renew their contract with Kubrick. [Sent in by anonymous.]
May 24, 1998... We're told that the scriptwriters for this project have been Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw and Ian Watson. Our scooper knows that the first two writers were fired and that Watson hasn't worked on the film for a while "but he did get along fine with Kubrick."
On the subject of the story, no one knows how close it is to the original Brian Aldiss short. Ian Watson has mentioned that a "Robot gigolo" character might be appearing, while Brian Aldiss commented that Kubrick simply wanted to re-make Pinnochio. [Scooped by 'pab5raf'.]
December 7, 1998... If you haven't been following the discussion on CA's page for the Neuromancer film, the project's latest director is a fellow who was previously mentioned with this project. His name is Chris Cunningham, and he's best known for his work on music videos for Portishead, Madonna and Aphex Twin. A 3.8 mb Quicktime video for Cunningham's video Second Bad Vibel exists on the onedotzero festival Web site. Since we know that Cunningham did robotic design work for Kubrick's project, our scooper postulates that the alien robotic vehicles glimpsed in the video could have been originally designed for A.I.. [This email was beamed from the constellation of Auriga by an entity who wishes to be known as 'shape'.]
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