Killing Satoshi: How Doug Liman Is Filming a Bitcoin Biopic with Pure AI

A Bitcoin biopic starring Pete Davidson and Casey Affleck will shoot every background and location using AI generation, with producers reserving contractual rights to alter actor performances through machine learning. The production is being treated as a test case for how far studios can push AI integration while staying within emerging union boundaries.

The Film and Its Stakes

Killing Satoshi centers on the real world mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin whose identity has never been confirmed. Producer Ryan Kavanaugh has described the project as "the Social Network of Bitcoin," positioning it as a high profile dramatization of one of the defining financial stories of the past two decades.

Doug Liman directs from a screenplay by Nick Schenk. Liman's credits include The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Edge of Tomorrow, making him one of the few directors with both mainstream credibility and a track record for technically ambitious productions.

The film is financed through Proxima Media and Aperture Media Partners, both connected to Kavanaugh, who founded and ran Relativity Media before its collapse in 2015. Casting is handled by UK based Dixie Chassay, which explains the production's British casting notice that first surfaced the AI disclosure language.

AI Backgrounds, No Location Shoots

The most concrete AI commitment in Killing Satoshi is the elimination of real world locations entirely. According to the UK casting notice, performers will work on "a markerless performative capture stage and not in any locations, using new AI technologies." Every exterior, interior, and environment audiences see in the finished film will be AI generated.

This approach bypasses one of the most expensive and logistically demanding parts of film production. Location scouting, permits, travel, and set construction often consume 20 to 30 percent of a feature budget. For a story that spans the global early Bitcoin community, locations ranging from Tokyo apartments to Silicon Valley offices would normally require significant resources. The production is betting that AI generated environments can carry that visual weight.

The Performance Modification Clause

The casting notice goes further than just backgrounds. Producers retain the right to "change, add to, take from, translate, reformat or reprocess" performances using "generative artificial intelligence (GAI) and/or machine learning technologies." In plain terms, the contract permits post production alteration of facial and body movements captured on the performance capture stage.

One constraint is explicit: producers cannot create a "recognisable and identifiable digital replica" of any actor without written consent. This language mirrors protections that SAG-AFTRA secured in its 2023 TV and theatrical contract negotiations, which were driven in large part by actor fears about unauthorized AI generated likenesses. The production appears to have structured the clauses to stay within what current union standards allow, while still maximizing flexibility in the edit.

Kavanaugh addressed the casting notice directly, saying: "We were very cautious, sensitive and overly protective of our actors to make sure we only use performance capture AI, which means that we will not have any AI generated actors that do not exist."

Davidson and Affleck in the Cast

Casey Affleck brings Oscar winning credibility to the production. His performance in Manchester by the Sea won Best Actor at the 2017 Academy Awards, and his range across drama and genre work makes him a credible choice for a story that blends financial thriller and character study. Pete Davidson, known for Saturday Night Live and his film work in The King of Staten Island, adds commercial draw and a younger audience demographic.

Affleck's involvement is consistent with views he has stated publicly on AI as a filmmaking tool. His earlier comments on AI as a creative collaborator positioned him among the more pragmatic voices in Hollywood on the technology, framing it as something that expands creative possibility rather than threatening it. Killing Satoshi is the most direct test yet of whether that position holds when applied at feature scale.

The specific roles both actors will play have not been disclosed. Given the film's premise, at least one of them is likely playing a character closely connected to the Satoshi investigation, though the production has not confirmed whether either portrays a fictional composite or a figure from the documented Bitcoin origin story.

Ryan Kavanaugh and the Production's Framing

Kavanaugh has been careful to frame the AI pipeline as a cost and logistics tool rather than a replacement for human performance. The "markerless performative capture" language positions the technology as capturing actor work, not generating it from scratch. The no reshoots framing. understood as the ability to adjust scenes in post using AI rather than calling actors back to set. is presented as a production efficiency benefit.

Whether that framing holds up under union scrutiny remains to be seen. Equity, the UK actors union, is currently negotiating its own protections against unauthorized AI reproduction of voices and likenesses. The timing of the Killing Satoshi casting notice, disclosed during active negotiations, drew attention precisely because it demonstrated what producers are already prepared to put into contracts.

What This Means for the Industry

Killing Satoshi is not the first production to use AI generated environments, but its scope is notable. Fully eliminating location shoots in favor of AI backgrounds for a major feature with recognizable cast signals a production model that other mid budget films could follow if the results are commercially viable.

The performance modification language is the more sensitive territory. Studios and producers have a clear financial interest in the ability to adjust performances without calling actors back. Actors and their unions have an equally clear interest in controlling how their captured performances are used and modified. The current contract language represents a negotiated middle ground, but the Killing Satoshi casting notice shows producers are prepared to use every inch of the latitude that middle ground provides.

Tools for AI video production. including the kind of environment generation this film is using at scale. are now accessible to independent filmmakers through platforms like AI FILMS Studio. The gap between what major productions can do and what individual creators can access has narrowed considerably.

For more context on how AI is reshaping production workflows across Hollywood, see our coverage of Amazon MGM's AI tools testing.

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Sources

Variety | Engadget | Dark Horizons | ComingSoon | Times of India