Chethma De Mel, Jadetimes Staff
C. J. De Mel is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Entertainment News
Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind Blade Runner 2049, has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery over allegedly using visuals without permission. The complaint came as a result of Tesla's just-held robotaxi launch event on October 10 where, according to reports, the company used imagery inspired by Blade Runner 2049 with the help of artificial intelligence despite explicit refusal for permission by Alcon.
In its complaint, Alcon said such misuse caused significant financial harm, besides pointing at Musk's erratic and politicized behaviour. It also advised other brands to beware of this in their future considerations to work with Tesla. The production company accused event organizers of "false endorsement," claiming the latter had suggested there was a deal between Alcon and Tesla.
The panel, staged at a Warner Bros studio, introduced another layer of complexity in the legal wrangling since Warner Bros served as distributor when Blade Runner 2049 bowed in 2017. A sequel to the cult 1982 Blade Runner, the film starred Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, and Jared Leto, and it picked up two Academy Awards.
Elon Musk himself has spoken glowingly of the original Blade Runner movie and even credited it as an inspiration for Tesla's Cybertruck model design. This lawsuit, filed by Alcon, happens while it is busy producing its Blade Runner 2099 spinoff series.
In a related event, Alex Proyas, director of the 2004 sci-fi movie I, Robot, similarly accused Musk of "essentially stealing" his design for Tesla's humanoid robots and self-driving cars. It was the title of the Tesla event, "We, Robot," which harked back to the title of Isaac Asimov's collection of short stories I, Robot that first caught Proyas' attention. The director, surprisingly angry about the issue, took to social media and asked Musk to "return" his designs. Yet some in the comments were quick to dismiss Proyas, pointing out that even I, Robot was a composite of other sources.
Tesla and Warner Bros have so far declined comment on these charges.
