How Hollywood reacted to AI video featuring ‘Tom Cruise’ and ‘Brad Pitt’

Hollywood’s

Motion Picture Association (MPA) has issued a harsh criticism over the rapid dissemination of an AI-generated video showing Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise engaged in a hyper-realistic rooftop brawl.

The video, created using ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 video model, has sparked a new discussion in Hollywood about permission, copyright, and the direction of filmmaking in the artificial intelligence era.

Watch the 15-second video below where the two celebrities are fighting on a rooftop. Irish director Ruairi Robinson, who received an Oscar nomination for a short film in 2002, uploaded the video two days ago.

“This was a 2-line prompt in Seedance 2. If the Hollywood is cooked guys are right, maybe the Hollywood is cooked guys are cooked too, idk,” Robinson wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

This was a 2 line prompt in seedance 2. If the hollywood is cooked guys are right maybe the hollywood is cooked guys are cooked too idk. pic.twitter.com/dNTyLUIwAV

— Ruairi Robinson (@RuairiRobinson) February 11, 2026 

An extended clip shows "Pitt" accusing "Cruise" of killing Jeffrey Epstein. “You killed Jeffrey Epstein, you animal. He was a good man,” Pitt says as he strikes a blow at Cruise. In response, Cruise says, “He knew too much about our rush operations. He had to die, and now you die too,” as he pulls Pitt onto the ground.

The MPA charged that Chinese tech giant ByteDance was using its new AI video platform to facilitate widespread copyright infringement. According to an MPA statement, obtained by Variety, "the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in massive unauthorised use of US copyrighted works in a single day."

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MPA added that ByteDance is disobeying established copyright law, which protects the rights of creators and supports millions of American jobs, by introducing a service that functions without significant protections against infringement. “ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity,” they mentioned.

The dispute revolves around a short AI-generated clip in which digital representations of Cruise and Pitt trade blows while engaging in conspiracy-related conversation. The film, which was made in response to a simple prompt, stunned viewers with its realistic cinematography and quickly went viral on social media.

The model, according to ByteDance, is a "substantial leap in generation quality" over the prior iteration.

Writers and filmmakers have also expressed concern over the video. Screenwriter Rhett Reese (Deadpool & Wolverine, Zombieland) said that AI would drastically change the filmmaking process, echoing a general fear among artists regarding their artistic autonomy and job stability.

“I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us,” Reese wrote on X.

I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us. https://t.co/248PmWnEgr

— Rhett Reese (@RhettReese) February 11, 2026 

A similar statement was issued by the trade association following the launch of OpenAI's Sora 2 last autumn, which likewise led to a plethora of copyright infringements facilitated by AI. In response to those concerns, OpenAI put protections in place that made it much harder for users to infringe on studio copyrights.

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