John Leguizamo isn’t losing sleep over Elon Musk’s plans to make his own version of The Odyssey with artificial intelligence. The actor, who is getting his flowers for his incredible work in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic as Eumaeus, didn’t hold back when asked about Musk’s proposed AI-generated movie and his criticism surrounding the blockbuster.
“Yeah, it’s going to be beautiful. It’ll be phenomenal. Good luck with that fake, soulless, empty [version],” Leguizamo told The New York Times.
He then turned his attention to the rhetoric surrounding Nolan’s movie and its diverse cast. “I just don’t understand people who go out of their way to hate-monger,” he continued, before referencing Cuban poet and revolutionary José Martí. “José Martí, the great Cuban poet and revolutionary, said there are two kinds of men: those that create and those that destroy.”
For Leguizamo, the actors Nolan assembled are also representative of the world audiences actually live in. “This diverse cast, to me, is symbolic of the real world that we’re living in,” he said. “We Latin people are 20 percent of the population, and we’re still virtually invisible, especially in executive and corporate rooms.”
Elon Musk wants to make his own ‘The Odyssey’
Leguizamo’s comments come after Musk announced plans for Grok Imagine to create a feature-length version of Homer’s story.
“Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” Musk wrote on X Tuesday along with a 3-minute AI-generated clip depicting Odysseus and Calypso.
The promise of a “historically accurate” Odyssey quickly raised some eyebrows considering Homer’s ancient epic is filled with gods, monsters and other mythological elements.
The announcement also wasn’t Musk’s first time weighing in on Nolan’s movie. Before its release, Musk repeatedly criticized aspects of the film’s casting, including Lupita Nyong’o’s reported role as Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.
© GettyHe also responded to a false claim that Elliot Page had been cast as Achilles, even though Page was actually playing Sinon, a Greek warrior and relative of Matt Damon’s Odysseus.
His recent comments have extended beyond The Odyssey. On July 26, Musk criticized Anne Hathaway for a 2018 speech she gave at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
© Getty“She’s just a marionette. Whoever wrote her speech is the real douchebag,” Musk wrote on X in response to a post criticizing the actress.
Christopher Nolan has his own thoughts about AI
© GettyNolan has already made his feelings about AI replacing artists clear. “The idea that it replaces human beings wholesale and human creativity, to me it’s nonsense,” Nolan told AFP.
In a separate conversation with Hugo Travers, Nolan described AI as a transparent horse “made of glass,” pointing to the skepticism he has seen surrounding the technology, particularly among younger audiences.
“I’ve never seen a technology advancing so rapidly [that’s been] so completely rejected by the public,” Nolan said. He specifically pointed to the response AI-generated videos receive online and the rise of the phrase “AI slop.”
“Everybody’s suspicion of it is so extreme, particularly young people,” he continued. “The reaction to AI videos online and people my children’s age immediately calling it ‘AI slop’ and coining that term and just putting it in a box.”
Meanwhile, Nolan’s very human version of The Odyssey has proven to be successful. It opened with $124.5 million domestically and pulled in $264.1 million worldwide.
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