Viral video portraying Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt leaves viewers shaken: 'It's nothing short of terrifying'

Alarm bells are going off in Hollywood after a series of clips generated by the newest artificial intelligence video tool, Seedance 2.0, widely surpassed "AI slop" in realism and production value. 

What's happening?

The New York Times reported on the reaction to a clip of Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt fighting that was posted by Irish director Ruairi Robinson (@RuariRobinson) to X.

This was a 2 line prompt in seedance 2. If the hollywood is cooked guys are right maybe the hollywood is cooked guys are cooked too idk. pic.twitter.com/dNTyLUIwAV

— Ruairi Robinson (@RuairiRobinson) February 11, 2026

Robinson said the 15-second video was the result of a mere two-line prompt. The clip depicts the two megastars on a debris-laden roof at twilight. They engage in a spirited fistfight devoid of the most telltale signs of AI slop. 

There are also the Hollywood touches you'd expect from such a scene, including close-ups, dramatic music, multiple camera angles, and logical choreography.

ByteDance, the company behind Seedance 2.0, clearly made major progress over the last two months. Its first release didn't generate the same reaction, nor the viral spread of clips.

Why is Seedance 2.0 concerning?

The clip sparked fear among industry professionals about AI's capability to create human likenesses with such precision and speed.

"For all of us who work in the industry and devoted our careers and lives to it, I just think it's nothing short of terrifying," Rhett Reese, a scriptwriter known for the Deadpool franchise, told the Times. "I could just see it costing jobs all over the place."

The clip also flies in the face of a number of guardrails designed to save those very jobs. It used Cruise's and Pitt's likenesses without their permission and tapped into years of intellectual property to generate the aesthetic and scene. 

Some Hollywood voices were less alarmed, including Rick and Morty executive producer and writer Heather Anne Campbell. 

​​"Everybody is, I think, swept up by the circus that came to town and is showing off," Campbell said. She characterized AI tools as "averaging machines" and asserted that nothing she'd seen was "poignant," "provocative," or breathtaking.

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Still, the prevailing reaction was that of extreme concern for the viability of writers, performers, and directors as studios cut costs. That doesn't even account for the environmental toll of AI and its demands on the energy grid.

What's being done about Seedance 2.0?

Hollywood quickly denounced Seedance 2.0 from numerous angles. The Motion Picture Association called out the product for unauthorized use of copyrighted works. Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter, arguing that the use of its characters infringed on a $1 billion deal with OpenAI's Sora.

"We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users," ByteDance said in a statement.

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