It’s been seven years since Gareth Edwards’ troubled Rogue One production, and in that time he’s quietly been working on a mysterious sci-fi project. The details have been kept a secret, other than it having to do with humans confronting robots in a futuristic setting. Well, that shadowy project now has an ominous title, The Creator, a fall release date, and an impressive new trailer.
Edwards has gathered quite the cast for The Creator, led by John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Ken Watanabe. They’re joined by Allison Janney, Sturgill Simpson, and newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles, with a screenplay by Edwards and fellow Rogue One writer Chris Weitz.
The trailer promises an all-out war between humanity and artificial intelligence in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Just based on the visual effects, it looks to be on the scale of Edwards’ previous work, including Godzilla and his breakout debut Monsters. We forget that Edwards first became such a red-hot prospect because of what he was able to accomplish on a limited budget. Whatever the price tag is on The Creator it looks as if Edwards is maximizing every dollar. I’ve got serious District 9 vibes from this one.
Here’s the synopsis: 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 hits theaters on September 29th, and this has quickly leapt to the top of my must-see list for the year.
