Imagining Wes Anderson’s Star Wars with AI

The trailer works as well as it does because of Anderson’s easily identifiable — and easily replicable — aesthetic.

One popular use of AI has been to imagine what certain films might look like were they made by other directors. (Some examples include “Avengers, but by Wes Anderson” and “Tron, but by Alejandro Jodorowsky.”) This trend has reached a new level, however, with this AI-generated trailer for The Galactic Menagerie, i.e., Star Wars if it were directed by Wes Anderson. (Via Kottke.)

It’s quite clever and amusing, especially the Owen Wilson-as-Darth Vader bit. Of course, the trailer only works as well as it does because Anderson’s films possess such an easily identifiable — and easily replicable — visual aesthetic, as evidenced by this recent TikTok trend. I doubt this concept would work as well with a filmmaker like, say, Judd Apatow, whose films aren’t exactly known for their visual style.

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