Elon Musk has been involved in several pop culture-related matters, from his beef with Disney to his assertion that Friends isn’t funny. The Tesla CEO occasionally takes to social media to share his personal insights into films and TV shows of the modern era. Now, though, Musk finds himself wrapped up in a situation involving an acclaimed science fiction film. The producers of Blade Runner 2049 are suing his aforementioned corporation for allegedly using images for the film for promotional purposes.
It was on Monday that Alcon Entertainment formally filed suit against Tesla in a California federal court. Per the lawsuit, the automotive brand used an artificial intelligence generator to transform stills from Blade Runner 2049 into unlicensed promotional materials for its robotaxi. Said advertisements were used when the self-driving vehicle was unveiled earlier this year, according to THR. Alcon also does not want to be associated with Elon Musk due to his “extreme political and social views.” The suit also reads:
Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account. Alcon did not want BR2049 to be affiliated with Musk.
The car manufacturer isn’t the only entity that’s named in the entity that’s named in the suit. Warner Bros. Discovery (which distributed 2049) is also involved, as the brand supposedly oversaw the use of the images. As part of the alleged partnership, the robotaxi reveal was held on a studio lot. Amid the presentation, there was also an image that showed a male sporting a trench coat as he looked over the remains of a city. It’s Alcon’s contention that the shot was taken from a scene in which Ryan Gosling’s K explores the last of Las Vegas.
Alcon – which produced films like Insomnia and The Blind Side – alleged that it wasn’t aware of the deal between WBD and Tesla until the same day the unveiling was held. It’s also been said that once Elon Musk reached out to Warners about a Blade Runner-adjacent collaboration for the robotaxi, an employee sent a request for clearance to the production company, which apparently denied the appeal due to the use of A.I.-generated imagery. On the whole, Alcon is suing on the grounds of copyright infringement and false endorsement and is seeking unspecified damages.
Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 opened in theaters in 2017 and was met with rave reviews. The film, which is streamable with a Max subscription, didn’t ignite a new era for the franchise, though it’s since garnered a cult following. (Per the recent lawsuit, Elon Musk expressed his admiration for the franchise at the robotaxi event.) There are currently plans for the IP, as the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 show is in development at Amazon Prime Video. That show is supposedly another reason why Alcon wants no association with Musk.
As it stands, this is just one Hollywood-related legal matter that Elon Musk is involved in. Musk is also funding a lawsuit on behalf of Gina Carano, who’s suing Disney over her firing from The Mandalorian. It remains to be seen what will happen with that case, and the same is also true as far as Musk’s legal entanglement with Alcon Entertainment goes.
