{"id":479199,"date":"2026-02-20T04:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479199\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:22:10","slug":"amc-theatres-wont-screen-ai-short-film-thanksgiving-day-after-online-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479199\/","title":{"rendered":"AMC Theatres Won’t Screen AI Short Film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ After Online Outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAMC Theatres<\/a> has opted out of screening the AI-generated short \u201cThanksgiving Day,\u201d which won a film festival contest whose prize included showcasing the winner at cinemas across the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this week, the inaugural Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival announced the victorious project would be granted a two-week run in nationwide theaters. The initiative hails from the festival\u2019s distribution partner Screenvision Media, an advertising company that supplies the 20-minute pre-show engagement that runs before the feature presentation at major theater chains, including some AMC locations as well as Classic Cinemas and TCL Chinese Theatres. Exhibitors, however, don\u2019t seem to have been involved in the terms of the Frame Forward contest.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis content is an initiative from Screenvision Media, which manages pre-show advertising for several\u00a0movie theatre chains\u00a0in the United States and runs\u00a0in fewer than 30 percent of AMC\u2019s U.S. locations,\u201d a spokesperson for AMC said in a statement. \u201cAMC was not involved in the creation of the content or the initiative and has informed Screenvision that AMC locations\u00a0will not participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCreated by Igor Alferov, \u201cThanksgiving Day\u201d used AI software, including Gemini 3.1 and Nano Banana Pro, to craft an intergalactic story about a bear and his platypus assistant who encounter all kinds of characters as they travel through the galaxy.<\/p>\n

\n\tModern Uprising Studios, which organized the Frame Forward event, released an unwieldy statement to defend the use of AI in film and asserted it\u2019s even \u201csupporting the theatrical window with compelling events.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere is a natural alignment between innovative storytelling, including GenAI-augmented productions, and the scale at which stories must operate to draw audiences together in the real world. When AI enhances production workflows, it also accelerates the development of companion experiences including immersive adaptations, spatial storytelling extensions, and interactive environments that complement and \u2018eventise\u2019 theatrical releases,\u201d said Modern Uprising Studios\u2019 senior VP of production and strategy Sverre Norfliet. \u201cRather than existing separately, theatrical and immersive will work in tandem, deepening audience engagement, enriching cultural impact, and extending the life of stories and franchises. MUS immersive is set to become an enabling layer across the creative and commercial lifecycle by helping storytellers build richer worlds, supporting the theatrical window with compelling events, and opening new avenues where audiences will participate in narrative universes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAI has been a widely dissected topic as Hollywood grapples with the opportunities and consequences of using such tools for making movies and television. In Variety and CNN\u2019s recent town hall conversation<\/a> with Matthew McConaughey and Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, the two A-listers talked about the entertainment industry\u2019s need to brace itself for the rise of AI.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s coming. It\u2019s already here. Don\u2019t deny it,\u201d McConaughey said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be enough to sit on the sidelines and make the moral plea that, \u2018No, this is wrong.\u2019 It\u2019s not gonna last. There\u2019s too much money to be made, and it\u2019s too productive. So I say: Own yourself. Voice, likeness, et cetera. Trademark it. Whatever you gotta do, so when it comes, no one can steal you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChalamet said although he\u2019s preparing for potential harms, he believes the business will find a healthy way to embrace the rapidly developing technology.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m fiercely protective of actors and artists in this industry,\u201d Chalamet said. \u201cAnd equally, whatever tide is coming, it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AMC Theatres has opted out of screening the AI-generated short \u201cThanksgiving Day,\u201d which won a film festival contest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[182,54847,181,507,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-479199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-amc-theatres","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}