Is The Creator movie based on a book? Explained
The Creator hit theaters on September 29, becoming one of the first movies to premiere at the end of the 2023 Writers Guild of America protest. It garnered encouraging critical reviews upon release. Before the theatrical outing, the sci-fi action thriller was shown on September 26, 2023, at the Fantastic Fest.
The synopsis of the film indicates that it is about a future war waged between the human race and AI forces.
Amidst this looming danger, a former special forces agent is tasked to destroy the AI-occupied territory and its fatal weapons.
When he is there, he finds out that the world-ending armament he was asked to terminate is an AI in a young child’s form, putting him in a dilemma. This gist left many wondering if The Creator is based on a novel. However, it must be clarified that The Creator movie is not based on any book.
Not a book, but the onset of AI inspired The Creator
The expanded synopsis of the film reads as follows:
“Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence (AI), Joshua, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war and mankind itself.”
It adds:
“Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory, only to discover the world-ending weapon he was instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.”
Given this summary, many thought that the movie has been taken from a book, but it’s an original story written by the film’s director Gareth Edwards. For the screenplay, however, Edwards took assistance from Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Chris Weitz.
Edwards shot to the limelight for his independent film, Monsters, in 2010. After this, he was engaged in churning out movies like Godzilla (2014) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). The Creator is his first original film in more than a decade, which he has directed, written, and produced.
At a recent media interaction, Edwards said that the onset of AI pushed him to pen the story for his new film:
“When we first pitched the movie to the studio, this idea of a war with AI, everyone wants to know the backstory like, ‘Hang on, why would we be at war with AI?’ ‘Well, they’ve been banned because it kind of went wrong.’ ‘But why would you ban AI? It’s going to be great,’ and blah, blah blah.”
The English director continued:
“It was all these sort of ideas that you have to set up that maybe humanity would reject this thing and not be that cool about it. And the way it’s played out, the setup of our movie is pretty much the last few months, it’s kind of strange. Go see it before November, because that’s when we’re going to be enslaved!”
The Creator stars John David Washington as former special agent Joshua Taylor, Gemma Chan as his missing wife Maya Fey, and debutante Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Joshua’s target, Alpha-Omega "Alphie".
Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Janney, among others, complete the cast of the new film, which has been distributed by 20th Century Studios.
The Creator is currently running in cinema halls.
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Upasya Bhowal