Gossip Goblin’s AI movie heads for a theater test in October
Zack London, the YouTuber known as Gossip Goblin, plans a limited theatrical release for the AI-made anthology film “Gods Don’t Give Gifts.”
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
An AI-made movie from YouTuber Zack London, better known online as Gossip Goblin, is being aimed at actual movie theaters this fall.
Variety reports that “Gods Don’t Give Gifts,” a four-part anthology film written and directed by London, is planned for a limited theatrical release on Oct. 30. The project was made with Fable, the AI studio led by CEO Edward Saatchi and backed by Amazon’s Alexa Fund investment arm.
The film follows a future shaped by technology that lets people push past human limits, including death and memory, and then face the consequences of what that does to humanity, according to Variety.
London has built an audience through AI-focused videos under the Gossip Goblin name. Variety reported that his YouTube channel has 1.4 million subscribers, a fan base the film’s team hopes can help turn an online following into theater attendance.
A limited release with YouTube muscle
Saatchi told Variety that the team is working with a distributor, though he declined to name the company. The first run is being targeted for cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
Which theaters will show the film has not been announced. Variety reported that Cinema United, the trade group representing major exhibitors including AMC and Regal, did not respond to a request for comment.
Saatchi said exhibitors have been “extremely excited” by the idea of showing the movie. He told Variety the AI element may make some people uneasy, while London’s YouTube following gives theater owners more confidence in trying the release.
London described the theatrical plan to Variety as an experiment, saying he sees it as part of proving that stories can be told with AI. He said the point was not to pick a fight with Hollywood, but to use a new medium to get around traditional barriers and budget limits.
Box office is not the only scorecard
Saatchi told Variety the team is not measuring success mainly by a large box office haul. He framed the release as a way of treating the movie as a theatrical artwork and giving fans a chance to see it on a cinema screen.
London also told Variety that he does not think the project would have been made through conventional greenlighting because it would have been too costly, too unusual and too difficult to justify at that scale.
The release strategy is being modeled in part on “Iron Lung,” the movie from YouTuber Markiplier, according to Variety. That film, released earlier this year, grossed $51 million on a $3 million budget from more than 4,000 screens.
Variety also pointed to the recent rise of YouTube creators moving into film, citing Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms” as examples. The outlet reported that those films have grossed more than $800 million globally so far.
A 15-minute clip of “Gods Don’t Give Gifts” has been made available, according to Variety. The October run will test whether London’s online audience will follow an AI-generated project from feeds and video platforms into multiplexes.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.