Did “Stop That Train” Use AI? Director Rejects the Claims

Adam Shankman has denied social-media claims that his film Stop! That! Train! relied on generative AI, saying the movie was created entirely by humans and that “zero” shots were conceived by AI. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the director defended the RuPaul Charles-led comedy after a wave of weekend posts on X suggested the production had used AI in its visual effects work.

The film, described as a broad, Airplane!-style comedy, stars RuPaul as President Judy Gagwell, who joins a group of comedians and drag performers including Ginger Minj, Jujubee and Brooke Lynn Hytes in an attempt to stop the runaway high-speed train Glamazon Express from crashing into a fictional disaster called a Stormaganza. The online criticism focused partly on the involvement of Acme AI and FX, the visual effects company reported to have worked on the project.

Shankman pushed back strongly, saying hundreds of VFX artists contributed to the production and that no creative work was removed from human hands. He framed the film as “a fully human made piece of joy and laughter,” urging audiences to watch it and enjoy it. The comments followed several viral X posts accusing the movie of using “mass amounts” of generative AI, with some users specifically objecting to the reported participation of an AI-based effects company.

According to a source familiar with the production, Acme AI and FX was hired only for visual effects and any AI use was limited to background workflow processes that did not appear on screen. The company, co-founded by former Relativity Media executive Ryan Kavanaugh, has promoted itself as a tool for reducing costs and production time by generating location imagery on a “gray box” soundstage, a model it has said will be used on upcoming projects such as Bitcoin.

The controversy also comes after earlier criticism of RuPaul-related content. An April episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race drew backlash when RuPaul appeared to “paint” images of the season’s final four contestants that viewers said looked AI-generated. RuPaul did not address those claims, and World of Wonder, the production company behind Drag Race, did not comment at the time.

For Shankman, the main message was that Stop! That! Train! should be judged as a human-made comedy, not as an example of AI replacing artists. The debate reflects the growing sensitivity in Hollywood over the use of generative AI, especially in visual effects and post-production, where even limited behind-the-scenes AI tools can quickly become a flashpoint on social media.