A hyper-realistic artificial intelligence video depicting “Tom Cruise” fighting “Brad Pitt” on a rooftop has triggered alarm across Hollywood, highlighting accelerating concerns over generative technology, creative labour and copyright protection.

The fifteen-second clip was posted by Irish filmmaker Ruairí Robinson, who said it was created using Seedance two point zero, a newly released AI video generator owned by ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.

Robinson stated that the sequence was generated from a two-line prompt in Seedance.

The clip’s convincing facial likenesses, cinematic lighting and fluid fight choreography drew widespread attention online.

Screenwriter person1, whose credits include "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Zombieland," responded publicly on February tenth, writing, "It's likely over for us." On February eleventh, he expanded that in the near future one individual could sit at a computer and produce a film indistinguishable from what Hollywood releases, provided that person possesses sufficient talent and creative judgment.

On February twelfth, he clarified that he was not celebrating the development, stating that he was "terrified" about artificial intelligence entering creative fields and that many people, including himself, could face the loss of their careers.

The reaction comes less than three years after writers and actors went on strike in part over the role of artificial intelligence in film and television production.

Since then, studios and technology firms have accelerated development of generative tools, while legal disputes continue over whether AI systems were trained on copyrighted material without authorization.

On Thursday, the Motion Picture Association accused Seedance two point zero of engaging in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale and urged ByteDance to halt the activity.

In a statement, person2, the association’s chairman and chief executive, said that by launching a service without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance was disregarding established copyright law that protects creators and supports millions of American jobs.

Social media platforms have since filled with AI-generated versions of well-known franchises including "Spider-Man," "Titanic," "Stranger Things," "The Lord of the Rings" and "Shrek."

person1 also noted that artificial intelligence may already be embedded within Hollywood’s workflow, suggesting that many screenwriters may be using AI extensively in drafting scripts and that executives may rely on it in script analysis, creating a situation in which AI critiques material it has helped generate.

What remains unclear is whether Seedance two point zero was trained on copyrighted material referenced in the generated content or how ByteDance intends to respond to the Motion Picture Association’s allegations.