OpenAI drops Sora as Critterz targets Q1 2027

Critterz by British studio Vertigo Films missed a planned Cannes Film Festival debut in France after OpenAI discontinued Sora and the filmmakers are now seeking a new AI partner for a first-quarter 2027 release.

Co-producer Chad Nelson, who works as an OpenAI creative strategist, and producer James Richardson said the story designs and scenes are already mapped out.

OpenAI said Critterz is an independent film that uses its tools and that the company is neither financing nor producing the project.

Richardson declined to share specific budget details for the film. Meanwhile, AI tools remain contentious in Hollywood over job losses.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Critterz used OpenAI tools in its plan, with funding from Federation Studios

Before the delay, the film carried a budget below $30 million. Federation Studios, Vertigo’s Paris-based parent company, provided the financing 1.
The team planned to finish the movie in about nine months. Animated features often take around three years to make 1.
Vertigo Films and amersia, Federation Studios’ AI entertainment company, also built a production system called Woven for the project. It is now in pilot use with a small group of media company partners 2.
The original concept paired OpenAI’s image generator DALL-E with traditional animation methods. It did not depend on Sora’s video generation 3.

Sora’s shutdown warns against relying on new AI platforms

The delay lays out the risk of leaning on one proprietary AI platform. A model can disappear with little warning and leave production partners stuck 4.
OpenAI’s move also speaks to the heavy computing cost and “limited monetisation” of AI video generation. One analyst called Sora a “resource black hole” for the company 5.
The decision suggests OpenAI is focusing elsewhere, including robotics and “agentic” AI, meaning systems that can complete autonomous tasks 5.
Sora’s exit gives rivals more room. Runway, an AI video company, and Google’s Veo, a video-generation model, are often built with the tighter controls used in professional production workflows 4.