Blockbuster AI Hollywood film! "Killing Satoshi Nakamoto" starring Casey Affleck, with a budget of only $70 million, far lower than traditional productions.

The AI film 《Killing Satoshi》 (Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi) has wrapped filming! Starring Casey Affleck, shot using a gray-box setup and with AI-assisted post-production, its budget was cut from 300 million to 70 million USD, aiming to showcase AI’s potential to disrupt traditional filmmaking.

Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi has wrapped filming, billed as the first AI Hollywood blockbuster

U.S. entertainment media outlet 《The Wrap》 exclusively reported that a film about Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, 《Killing Satoshi》 (Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi), quietly wrapped filming last month in London. This film is claimed to be a fully AI-generated, studio-quality Hollywood feature, costing only 70 million USD—far lower than the original 300 million USD blockbuster budget.

The film is directed by Doug Liman (of 《The Bourne Identity》). The cast includes Gal Gadot, Casey Affleck, and others. The core of the plot explores why major cryptocurrency organizations would invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a large organization called COPA—only to destroy one person.

The film appears to establish Satoshi Nakamoto’s real identity as Craig Wright, the person nicknamed “Auburn Satoshi,” a role played by Casey Affleck, who has reportedly faced multiple assassination attempts.

Image source: Getty Images Craig Wright, nicknamed “Auburn Satoshi,” has previously claimed multiple times that he is Satoshi Nakamoto

Although Wright’s claim that he is Satoshi has been rejected by a British court, public interest in Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity remains extremely high. In addition, another documentary on this topic, 《Finding Satoshi》, will be released next week.

Disrupting the traditional “gray box” production model

《Killing Satoshi》 was shot entirely inside a customized “gray box” studio, with a filming schedule of only 20 days. With AI technology assisting the process, the team successfully reduced the traditional live-action scene-shooting budget—from 300 million USD down to 70 million USD—making the budget scale much easier to manage.

《The Wrap》 observed on set that this space, known as the gray box, is a spacious yet monotonous room with only a few props and basic set dressing. The finished backdrops in traditional films are replaced by large walls marked with X symbols, and these empty areas will be filled by AI during post-production.

On-site, there is no traditional lighting system—only large overhead lights are used to illuminate the set. Conventional lighting equipment is completely absent, because lighting effects will also be completed through AI technology during post-production.

Humans still participate extensively; precise use of AI differs from what the public does with ChatGPT

The independent film producer behind 《Killing Satoshi》 is Acme AI & FX. One of its founders, Ryan Kavanaugh, said that since the budget for on-location filming would exceed 300 million USD, the team decided early on to use AI tools.

After recruiting AI professionals to conduct testing, the team found they could produce 100% photorealistic images—leading to the creation of Acme AI & FX.

Director Doug Liman’s AI company, 30 Ninjas, also participated in the production of this film. The art director, Oliver Scholl, pointed out that although AI is part of the workflow, the entire process begins with human intent and guidance—humans handle model creation and reference data searching.

The materials the team inputs into the prompt area are images they built in advance, allowing the AI-generated results to achieve extremely high precision. This is clearly different from the way most users simply input plain text into ChatGPT and passively accept the results.

Image source: 30 Ninjas official website Doug Liman’s AI company, 30 Ninjas, also participated in the production of 《Killing Satoshi》

Can AI push the “democratization” of film production?

《Killing Satoshi》 employed 107 actors, 100 shooting crew members, and 54 non-shooting crew personnel. The film is currently in a 30-week post-production phase, with 55 AI artists involved.

Producers also emphasized that the team follows ethical standards throughout the production process to ensure the job rights and value of every crew member. The production process is entirely led and guided by humans—nothing can surpass human creativity and craftsmanship.

In the entertainment industry, AI remains a sensitive topic. Many people worry that film industry workers will be replaced by AI, or believe that AI lacks human creativity.

Producer Lawrence Grey admitted that at first, industry professionals were concerned about the team’s decision to use AI to make films. But the team also found that insiders privately understand that the development of AI is an inevitable trend. As long as AI is used responsibly, it can be a practical tool for pushing the film production process toward “democratization.”

Further reading:
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? A latest New York Times investigation says it is Adam Back, sparking wild ridicule from the crypto community