‘We made a $200 million movie in one day and it’s 100% AI’: German studio reveals Hollywood-level results using AI

A German creative studio has drawn widespread attention after releasing a three-minute sci-fi short film it says matches the look and scale of a $200 million Hollywood production, created entirely with artificial intelligence in a single day.

The film, shared online by the Dor Brothers, depicts a global catastrophe unfolding across major cities, with scenes of urban chaos, large-scale destruction, explosions and cinematic camera movements that resemble those seen in big-budget studio films.According to the studio, the project was generated using tools from its DorLabs platform, without traditional filmmaking elements such as cameras, actors, physical sets or conventional visual effects pipelines.

The $200 million figure is presented as a comparison to Hollywood production value rather than an actual budget. The studio says the short was designed to demonstrate what current generative AI systems can achieve when used as an end-to-end production workflow.The film was reportedly produced in roughly 24 hours, covering concept development, visual generation and assembly. Dor Brothers have previously worked on more than 200 AI-generated music videos and experimental visual projects, experience they say helped refine rapid production techniques for longer-form cinematic content.

The new short builds on those workflows by focusing on continuity, camera motion and large-scale environments.

Online reactions have been mixed. Many viewers highlighted the photorealistic environments, smooth transitions and the apparent scale of the visuals, noting that the short resembles the visual language of high-budget disaster and sci-fi films. Others pointed to limitations, including inconsistent physics, occasional visual artefacts and a lack of narrative depth, suggesting that while the imagery appears polished, the storytelling remains minimal.The project has also renewed discussion about how generative AI may affect the film and visual effects industries. Supporters see tools like DorLabs as lowering barriers to entry for high-end visuals, while critics raise concerns about artistic originality, labour displacement and the absence of human performance. Dor Brothers have described the short as a technical demonstration rather than a finished cinematic work.While the studio’s claim does not suggest that a traditional $200 million film was actually produced, the release has added momentum to ongoing debates about the speed, scale and role of AI in modern filmmaking. The short film stands as a recent example of how rapidly generative tools are advancing, even as questions remain about their creative limits and long-term impact on the industry.