There was a lot of positive buzz around Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards' new sci-fi actioner, The Creator, following its well-received first trailer, but the movie is now picking up some attention of a more negative sort.
The film, from New Regency and Disney’s 20th Century Studios, includes footage from the Beirut explosion in its trailer. The tragedy occurred at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon in 2020, and led to 218 deaths and $15 billion worth of property damage.
The footage was first picked up on a Reddit user, before being amplified when YouTuber Corridor Crew brought up the situation on their VFX Artists React series.
It's very brief, but if you check out the comparison video below, both shots do appear to be identical.
Like a lot of big effects-heavy movies, The Creator enlisted multiple vendors to work on its VFX, including Industrial Light & Magic, MARZ, Misc Studios, Fin Design + Effects, Supreme Studio, Outpost VFX, Crafty Apes, Jellyfish Pictures, VFX Los Angeles, Frontier VFX, Outpost VFX and Clear Angle Studios.
It's not clear which studio was responsible for splicing in the Beirut explosion footage, however, and Disney has yet to issue a response.
“Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Chan), 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.
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’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.”
The Creator also stars Gemma Chan (Eternals), Ken Watanabe (Inception), Sturgill Simpson (Dog), newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles and Academy Award winner Allison Janney (I, Tonya), and is set to hit theaters on September 29.