Nicolas Cage criticized Amazon on Saturday during a panel on the Empire Stage at New York Comic Con, claiming the company asked him to sign an artificial intelligence waiver for his Prime Video series "Spider-Noir."
"Amazon is a very AI-friendly company, to the tune of $50 billion invested in OpenAI," Cage told the audience. "I am not an AI-friendly actor, so it's like, connect those dots! I'm not a member of their club. I didn't sign the waiver to let him use AI on 'Spider Noir.' I'm probably not going to be working with that studio again, but that's okay."
Amazon canceled "Spider-Noir" after a single season last month, just days before the opening weekend of the Emmy Awards, where the series had picked up 11 nominations — the most of any Prime Video program this year. The cancellation surprised many in the industry given that the show drew 2.6 billion minutes viewed in its first six weeks and was well received by both critics and audiences.
Despite the fallout with Amazon, Cage said he wants to continue working in television following "Spider-Noir," which marked his first leading role in a TV series. He revealed that his next project will be a season of HBO's "True Detective."
"My agent's out there somewhere listening," Cage joked. "That's okay that I'm the first to announce that, right?" HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cage's involvement.
Cage also spoke about his desire to collaborate with a new generation of filmmakers, singling out "Backrooms" director Kane Parsons, who built a following on YouTube before breaking into Hollywood. "Backrooms" recently surpassed "Marty Supreme" to become the highest-grossing release in A24's history.
"I got to get with these young directors who are Gen Z, and they're going at it their own way, whether it's through the YouTube culture or whatever it is," Cage said. "They're doing it from scratch and by hand. I want to get with that."
Photo: Peter Kudlacz, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
