Newsgroup: it.cultura.fantascienza
Titolo: a proposito di AI

Ho letto su qualche giornale, 2 o 3 giorni fa, che Stanley Kubrick ha
compiuto da poco la veneranda età di settant'anni, e che il suo atteso
Eyes wide shut non è ancora finito. Io ho il terrore che Kubrick
diventi aterosclerotico o peggio tiri le cuoia prima dell' attesissimo
AI, il suo nuovo film di fantascienza che voci danno certo come prossimo
alla realizzazzione. Per caso qualcuno sa qualcosa su questo film, che
so, trama, probabili interpreti, curatori degli effette speciali (a cui
Kubrick notoriamente tiene molto)? Vi ringrazio in anticipo per (spero)
nutrite risposte (scherzo!).
Ciao ciAO
Nicola

from 
http://corona.bc.ca/
A.I.
Genre: Science Fiction. 
Studio: Warner Brothers. 
Production Company: Unknown. 
Project Phase: Development Hell. 
Who's In It: Unknown. 
Who's Making It: Stanley Kubrick (Director); possibly based upon
a short story by Brian Aldiss. 
Premise: Only snippets of the storyline have been announced. The
show is set in the 21st Century at a time when the
Greenhouse Effect has melted sections of the polar icecaps,
leaving Earth's coastal cities partially submerged. One of
the new tools Mankind utilizes to manage this environmental
disaster and survive is a new form of computer, one that
is self-aware of its own existence - an artificial intelligence,
known as an A.I. computer. 
Release Date: Unknown. 
Comments: First announced in fall 1994 as Kubrick's next official
project, following 1987's Full Metal Jacket.
When the project was announced, Kubrick commented that he had the
concept of the film for a number of years, and
was now actively developing the project based upon the
breakthrough in special effects and computer animation in
Jurassic Park. With the advancements made in digital illusion,
Kubrick felt that now was the right time the images
from inside his mind could be translated faithfully to the
screen. As with all previous Kubrick films, expect the show to
be as much a drama as a collection of futuristic imagery.
Soon after the project was announced, a strong rumor arose on the
Internet claiming that the Kubrick project was
developed from a Brian Aldiss short story. Specifics of the plot
are extremely scarce, so it cannot be confirmed
presently.
Developments:
April, 1996... A.I. is scheduled by Kubrick to be next on his
directing slate after his work on Eyes Wide Shut is
complete, sometime in the fall of 1996. [Thanks to Todd Dupler.]
Rumors: Summer, 1995... A strong rumor circulating in the special
effects industry mentions that Stanley Kubrick
met with Industrial Light & Magic supervisor Dennis Muren to
discuss effects work for A.I..
December, 1995... With little information on the status of the
project, the discussion of the likelihood of A.I. making it
at all to the screen begins. Although the Aldiss premise has not
been confirmed, rumors float about that the storyline is
being re-tooled, with a de-emphasis of the submerged coastal
cities (echoes of Waterworld spin in the thoughts of
some studio exec, somewhere I'm sure). As well, now there's talk
of the project being re-titled Supertoys (and no,
Robin Williams is not in it).
Week of December 24, 1995... Finally, there's news of a new
Stanley Kubrick feature coming down the pipeline.
Warner Brothers have confirmed that the project, simply titled
"Stanley Kubrick Untitled", is in pre-production.
However, no word if it is the A.I. project that is reported to be
his next film. Tagged to star in this new project are
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, with Frederic Raphael doing the
screenplay. Tentative start date is July, 1996. More
news as we get it, kiddies.
Scoop Feedback:
January, 1996... The new Kubrick project is going to be titled
Eyes Wide Shut, and it's going to be a
romantic-comedy or romantic-thriller. Tom Cruise and Nicole
Kidman have signed pay-or-play contracts, and shooting
is tentively scheduled to begin in Spring '96. Development on
A.I. remains stuck in special effects R&D, but not dead.
[Reported by Sean P. Gormally.]
April 2, 1996... Development on A.I. is in the final stages of
set design and special-effects development, reports
Associated Press. Kubrick plans to return to direct involvement
with the project after completing Eyes Wide Shut.
[Scoop feedback by Todd Dupler; originally reported by AP.]
June 2, 1996... A long, unsubstantiated rumor is that A.I.
actually began production years ago with Joseph Mazzello
(Tim from Jurassic Park) starring. [Scoop sent in by 'hansolo'.]
June 16, 1996... The Aldiss short story in question would be
"Supertoys Last All Summer Long", which has been
reprinted in a few of his short story collections. [Scoop
submitted by 'Godai'.]
June 28, 1996... An interesting scoop arrives at CA, so
intriguing that we decided to let you see it for yourself and
make your own decision about it:
"Kubrick, as we well know, has had A.I. in development for
several years now. The narrative follows the
development of a child and his inter-relation with the technology
that surrounds him. We can safely assume
here that this technology will be represented by the AI.
"The trick is that the film traces the boys development, not over
weeks or months, but YEARS.
"Kubrick began shooting with Joseph Mazzello (Tim from Jurassic
Park) as early as 1992. The film shoots
four weeks at a time every couple of years with Joseph at a
different age.
"Kubrick discovered Mazzello. Spielberg found out that Kubrick
was directing a remarkable young actor
when he was screen testing Jurassic Park...The rest is history.
"Another rumour centres around Kubrick begining the A.I. effects
shots optically but halting them as soon as
he was privy to the JP CGI Dinos." [Scoop submitted by the
enigmatic 'shape'.]
January 18, 1997... With principal photography now complete on
Eyes Wide Shut, word is Kubrick wants to begin
A.I.. A quick start is planned for. [Scoops sent in by 'pyazdi',
Stefan, 'mkingsley', Joe Hanna.]
May 17, 1998... The latest issue of the Swedish fashion magazine
Bibel may have just revealed the premise of the
long-lost A.I. films. The magazine features an interview with
Chris Cunningham, director of the Madonna video
Frozen and Aphex Twin's video Come to Daddy. In the piece
Cunningham says that he designed robots for Kubrick's
A. I., being quoted as saying "I spent a year in Kubrick's house
putting them together." According to the article
Cunningham also says that the film is actually about a boy who is
a robot. [Big thumbs up to our Swedish friend
David I for the scoop!]
Despite rumours to the contrary, we're told that Joseph Mazzelo
will NOT be starring in A.I. The rumour started
because Mazzelo was under a two-year contract with Kubrick for a
role in The Aryan Papers, an adaptation of the
Holocaust-era novel Wartime Lies. But when two years had passed
(during which Kubrick allowed Mazzelo to appear
in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands) and Aryan Papers failed to
materialise, Mazzelo was at last released from
his contract. The Mazzelos have since decided not to renew their
contract with Kubrick. [Sent in by anonymous.]
May 24, 1998... We're told that the scriptwriters for this
project have been Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw and Ian Watson.
Our scooper knows that the first two writers were fired and that
Watson hasn't worked on the film for a while "but he
did get along fine with Kubrick."
On the subject of the story, no one knows how close it is to the
original Brian Aldiss short. Ian Watson has mentioned
that a "Robot gigolo" character might be appearing, while Brian
Aldiss commented that Kubrick simply wanted to
re-make Pinnochio. [Scooped by 'pab5raf'.]
Ciao
kluge