Affleck Confirms AI Use in 'Animals'
Ben Affleck revealed on Wednesday at Bloomberg's 2026 Screentime event that he employed artificial intelligence for numerous tasks in his forthcoming Netflix thriller Animals. He was hesitant to identify which specific elements involved AI, explaining that in his line of work, maintaining the illusion of reality is essential. He likened disclosing the details to a magician revealing a hidden rabbit or a planted audience member before a show, which would ruin the experience. Affleck did confirm the use of AI and described the film as a strong example of ethical AI application because it remains a deeply human story.[S1]
Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, and Kerry Washington also appear in the film, which arrives on Netflix on October 9. Affleck's connection to both Netflix and artificial intelligence is substantial, since the streamer purchased his AI venture InterPositive for close to $600 million. That deal leaves him considerably more enthusiastic and better informed about the technology than most others working in Hollywood today.[S1]
From Fear to Familiarity
According to Affleck, once more people in filmmaking spend time using AI tools and feel they have some command over them, the technology stops seeming like a vague, frightening, alien force capable of wiping everyone out and becomes something they can plainly recognize, at which point the panic fades. He described AI as simply another kind of computing, one more step in the ongoing evolution of film and television production. He added that he does not believe AI will ever let someone type a single prompt and generate a movie audiences actually want.[S1]
Affleck Pushes Back on Netflix Note Claim
In that same discussion, Affleck pushed back on the notion that Netflix forced him and Matt Damon to keep repeating The Rip's storyline. He explained that the two of them went on Joe Rogan's show to clarify that what they encountered with the streamer was the complete opposite of the Damon remark that spread widely online. Affleck said a single quote had been seized upon, attributed to Damon, about Netflix making you explain the plot within the opening five minutes. He reasoned that since he both stars in and directs the film, he would hardly go on Rogan's podcast and claim the streamer made him cram such obvious exposition into it. The whole idea, he said, is nonsensical.[S1]
What Damon had actually said on The Joe Rogan Experience was muddled. He explained that action films traditionally build around three set pieces, one per act, with the costliest and largest explosion saved for the finale in act three. Under Netflix's approach, Damon said, a big sequence is wanted in the first five minutes to hold viewers' attention, and repeating the plot three or four times in dialogue would not hurt because audiences are distracted by their phones. Affleck countered that Netflix would never issue such a demand, and that he has never encountered anyone who got a note that foolish and shameless, though plenty of foolish studio notes exist. He pointed out that such notes predate Netflix by decades, and that executives have long instructed filmmakers to do precisely the wrong thing and damage their own movies.[S1]
