Steven Soderbergh has always been at the forefront of trying new techniques in filmmaking. With both Unsane and High Flying Bird, he experimented with mobile cinematography, using his iPhone to film the features. Now, in 2026, he’s pushing new boundaries again by experimenting with AI in his upcoming John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary. And fans, of course, have very strong opinions about the choice.
During a recent interview with the substack Filmmaker, he told Amy Taubin that his upcoming John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary will use generative AI for about 10 minutes of its 90-minute runtime. And while that might not sound like a lot, it’s already raising eyebrows. Fans of Soderbergh and Lennon aren’t happy.
To be fair, Soderbergh’s approach isn’t to replace John Lennon and Yoko Ono with AI versions, but to fill in gaps in the footage. See, the doccie centres on a three-hour interview John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave to RKO Radio in New York on December 8, 1980, hours before he died. But Soderbergh seems to be using generative AI for abstract stuff, like the imagery that overlaps parts where they discuss philosophy, love, and politics.
“AI has been helpful in creating thematically surreal images that occupy a dream space rather than a literal space. And that’s been really fun because you need a Ph.D. in literature to tell it what to do. But like every other piece of technology, it desperately requires very close human supervision,” Soderbergh said.
So it seems he intends to use AI as a tool rather than recreate entire sequences. And, still, about 90 percent of the documentary will be archival stills, like photos and old footage.
Still, none of that information was enough to win over fans. Over on X, comments hit hard. “If people wanted to see AI slop, they could just prompt it themselves,” one person wrote. “You can’t call something a documentary and then inject AI-generated imagery without raising serious questions,” wrote another. And amidst all the memes and angry gifs, you’ll find stronger comments. Like, “What a crap excuse.”
The point of the entire documentary is to show a side of Lennon we haven’t seen before, or at least the new generation that loves his music hasn’t heard before. Sean Ono Lennon reportedly told Soderbergh he worries younger audiences don’t really know what his father stood for beyond the music.
“It’s a weird time to be making movies,” Soderbergh admits while talking about the project. But, unsurprisingly, it’s not the only AI experiment he has going right now. He’s also working on a Spanish-American War film with Wagner Moura.
“I mean… Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and dozens of other films have created surreal images that occupy a dream space without the use of A.I. Just say you don’t wanna pay people,” argued another X user. Is he wrong?
