Where was the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence shot during production in 2000?

A.I. was shot entirely using sound stages at Warner Bros Studios and the Spruce Goose Dome in Long Beach California with a couple of weeks of shooting on location in Oxbow Regional Park in Oregon. The original start date was the 10th of July 2000 but filming was delayed until August.

What is the plot summary of the character David in A.I. Artificial Intelligence?

David an 11-year-old prototype mecha child capable of experiencing love is given to Henry Swinton and his wife Monica whose son Martin is in suspended animation after contracting a rare disease. After being abandoned by Monica in a forest full of scrap metal and obsolete mechas he decides to find the Blue Fairy in the hope that she will make him a real boy.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Stanley Kubrick acquired the rights to Brian Aldiss's 1969 short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" in the early 1970s. He hired a series of writers including Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Ian Watson and Sara Maitland over the next two decades. The project languished in development hell for years because Kubrick felt computer-generated imagery was not advanced enough to create the David character. He believed no child actor could convincingly portray such a role at that time. In 1985, Kubrick asked Steven Spielberg to direct the film while he remained as producer. Warner Bros agreed to co-finance A.I. and cover distribution duties. Aldiss was fired by Kubrick over creative differences in 1989. Bob Shaw briefly served as writer but left after six weeks due to Kubrick's demanding work schedule. Ian Watson was hired as the new writer in March 1990. Aldiss later remarked that Kubrick had fired him and then hired his enemy instead. Kubrick dropped A.I. to work on a film adaptation of Wartime Lies. After the release of Spielberg's Jurassic Park with its innovative CGI, it was announced in November 1993 that production would begin in 1994. Dennis Muren and Ned Gorman became visual effects supervisors but Kubrick was displeased with their previsualization and the expense of hiring Industrial Light & Magic and Stan Winston Studio. Kubrick handed the position to Spielberg in 1995 but Spielberg chose to direct other projects. The film was put on hold due to Kubrick's commitment to Eyes Wide Shut. After Kubrick's death in March 1999, Harlan and Christiane Kubrick approached Spielberg to take over the director's position.

By November 1999, Spielberg was writing the screenplay based on Ian Watson's 90-page story treatment. It was his first solo screenplay credit since Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977. Pre-production was briefly halted during February 2000 because Spielberg pondered directing other projects like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone or Minority Report. The following month, Spielberg announced that A.I. would be his next project with Minority Report as a follow-up. When he decided to fast track A.I., Spielberg brought back Chris Baker as concept artist. Ian Watson reported that the final script was very faithful to Kubrick's vision. Even the ending which is often attributed to Spielberg was actually what Watson wrote for Stanley. He said the final 20 minutes were pretty close to what he wrote for Stanley and what Stanley wanted faithfully filmed by Spielberg without added schmaltz. Kubrick had asked Sara Maitland to give the film mythic resonance. She recalls that he never referred to the film as A.I. but always called it Pinocchio. Kubrick's version ended the same way Spielberg's does with advanced mechas reviving Monica but only for a day. Kubrick believed the film would be closer to Steven Spielberg's sensibilities as director. He told Spielberg that this project was much closer to your sensibilities than my own.

In Madison New Jersey David an 11-year-old prototype mecha child capable of experiencing love is given to Henry Swinton and his wife Monica whose son Martin is in suspended animation after contracting a rare disease. Initially uncomfortable with David Monica eventually warms to him and activates his imprinting protocol. Touched by his love for her she introduces him to Teddy Martin's old robotic teddy bear and the two become friends. After Martin is unexpectedly cured of his disease and brought home he jealously goads David into cutting off a piece of Monica's hair. That night David enters his adoptive parents' room but as Monica turns over the scissors accidentally poke her in the eye. While Henry attends to her wounds Teddy picks up the lock of hair from the floor and places it in his pocket. During a pool party one of Martin's friends pokes David with a knife triggering his self-protection programming. David grabs Martin causing both of them to fall into the pool. While Martin is rescued David is accused of endangering others. Frightful of David's reactions and fearing for his family's safety Henry convinces Monica to return David to his creators for destruction. En route she instead spares David by abandoning him in a forest full of scrap metal and obsolete mechas telling him to avoid people and find solace with his own kind. Now accompanied solely by Teddy David recalls The Adventures of Pinocchio and decides to find the Blue Fairy in the hope that she will make him a real boy.

The original start date was the 10th of July 2000 but filming was delayed until August. Aside from a couple of weeks of shooting on location in Oxbow Regional Park in Oregon A.I. was shot entirely using sound stages at Warner Bros Studios and the Spruce Goose Dome in Long Beach California. Spielberg copied Kubrick's obsessively secretive approach to filmmaking by refusing to give the complete script to cast and crew banning press from the set and making actors sign confidentiality agreements. For instance Jack Angel who voiced Teddy recorded his lines entirely out of context only receiving direction to sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh except very wise and old and stoic. However Spielberg asked Angel to be on the set every day to make line alterations wherever he felt necessary. Spielberg initially wanted to follow Kubrick's vision to have David as a robot he hired Stan Winston to build an animatronic of David until it was dropped after Spielberg and the crew saw Osment's performance in The Sixth Sense. Social robotics expert Cynthia Breazeal served as technical consultant during production. Costume designer Bob Ringwood studied pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip for his influence on the Rouge City extras. Visual effects such as removing the visible rods controlling Teddy and removing Haley Joel Osment's breath were provided in-houses by PDI/DreamWorks.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence was released on the 29th of June 2001 by Warner Bros Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $235.9 million against a budget of $90, 100 million. On Rotten Tomatoes A.I. Artificial Intelligence holds an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 201 critics with an average rating of 6.60 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads that A.I. is curious not always seamless amalgamation of Kubrick's chilly bleakness and Spielberg's warm-hearted optimism. In a 2016 BBC poll of 177 critics around the world A.I. Artificial Intelligence was voted the eighty-third greatest film since 2000. It has since been called one of Spielberg's best works and one of the greatest films of the 21st century and of all time. Producer Jan Harlan stated that Kubrick would have applauded the final film while Kubrick's widow Christiane also enjoyed A.I. Brian Aldiss admired the film as well saying it was inventive intriguing ingenious involving though flawed. Richard Corliss of Time magazine heavily praised Spielberg's direction as well as the cast and visual effects. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four calling it wonderful and maddening but later added it to his Great Movies canon in 2011. Leonard Maltin on the other hand gives the film two stars out of four writing that it takes several wrong turns ultimately just doesn't work.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Spielberg Takes The Reins

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David's Quest For Humanity

Production Challenges And Effects

Cultural Reception And Legacy

Spielberg Takes The Reins

David's Quest For Humanity

Production Challenges And Effects

Cultural Reception And Legacy