Charles Curran Deploys AI Batman, Star Wars Clips for Spencer Pratt's LA Mayor Run
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · May 12
Charles Curran Deploys AI Batman, Star Wars Clips for Spencer Pratt's LA Mayor Run
6 articles · Updated · POLITICO · May 12
AI-generated videos by filmmaker Charles Curran have gone viral for portraying Spencer Pratt as a heroic challenger to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, using Batman and Star Wars-style imagery to attack Bass and other rivals.
The clips appear to use iconic Hollywood intellectual property without authorization, yet Disney's Lucasfilm and Warner Bros.' DC Studios have not publicly objected and the videos remain online.
Pratt's campaign said it did not commission the Batman ad and called it a tribute, while Curran has not disclosed who funded the productions; Pratt has reposted both videos on X.
The spots have drawn attention beyond Hollywood, with Jeb Bush calling one "the best political ad of the year," even as writer Walter Kirn warned the viral AI tactics could spur efforts to outlaw the technology.
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