Jodie Foster Says Brad Pitt’s ‘F1’ Was So Formulaic That It Felt AI-Generated

Apple’s ‘F1’ is one of the biggest hits of the year, but not everyone was impressed. In a recent interview, Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Jodie Foster offered an unexpectedly harsh response to the racing drama.

Jodie Foster Believes ‘F1’ Shows Hollywood’s Growing Formula Problem

Jodie Foster believes that the film was predictable felt like it was something that AI could have made. Foster didn’t fault the movie’s success. She noted that she was using ‘F1’ as a case example of a more formulaic method of making blockbuster films. 

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She noted the film’s technical brilliance, but wondered if the film’s perfectionism could result in a lack of spontaneity that makes a movie memorable. Foster said ‘F1’ seemed to be following a “storyline” that they would learn in school, and each scene was playing out exactly as she expected. 

“I don’t say this disparagingly, how could I? This movie went on to make millions of dollars. But I look at a movie like ‘F1,’ and I’m like, ‘F1’ was made by AI. Wasn’t it? I mean, the structure was exactly the structure that you would learn in school,” she told Variety. 

Even the performances were stilted, according to her. “The actors say the lines exactly the way they would be written if a computer were writing exactly what would be the right thing for that time. And they were able to dominate the technology to make something big and beautiful and potentially where a lot of the information comes from other places.”

Foster openly admitted that audiences embraced F1, making it a global success and grossing hundreds of millions of dollars. However, she believes that a movie doesn’t have to be creatively adventurous to be commercially successful.

Her remarks were not an outright claim that AI actually wrote the script. Instead, they were concerned about the fact that some of the latest blockbusters have become too formulaic, almost like the kind of stories one would expect to see from artificial intelligence.

Despite Her Criticism, Foster Lauded The Technicality Of The Film

Foster commended the technical aspects of the film, describing it as “big and beautiful” while recognizing the extraordinary scope of its production. She also pointed out that today’s filmmaking has become more and more dependent on technology and information from a wide range of sources.

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The comments come at a time when Hollywood is debating the increasing impact of AI on the entertainment industry. Since the industry’s labor disputes over AI protections, filmmakers and actors have repeatedly raised concerns about preserving human creativity in an era of rapidly advancing technology.

Whether audiences agree with Foster or not, her comments tap into an ongoing discussion about what people truly value in movies. While spectacle can fill theatres, it is the human moments that are unexpected, the imperfections, the risks, the emotional truths that stick with many viewers long after the credits roll.

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