VIDEO: AI gives classic Czech film 'Pelíšky' the Wes Anderson treatment

American filmmaker Wes Anderson's signature unmistakable style, which has been applied to films like Avatar, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, courtesy of artificial intelligence (AI), is now being lent to the Czech holiday classic Pelíšky (Cosy Dens).

Director Jan Hřebejk's coming-of-age film from 1996, one of the most beloved Czech films and soundtracks of all time, provides a snapshot of Czech family life leading up to the 1968 Prague Spring.

The 1999 film directed by Jan Hřebejk portrays the wonderfully dark and quirky Czech sense of humor toward family and the communist regime. It’s also teeming with Czech Christmas traditions – chlebíčky, carp… and quality plastic spoons from East Germany.

According to NaFilmu.cz, the fictitious trailer for the film was created by videographer David Spáčil for his YouTube channel using Midjourney, Eleven Labs, PikaLabs, and other tools.

The AI version is reimagined with Hollywood actors and Anderson players Timothée Chalamet, Bill Murray, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, and Danny Glover standing in for the original film's Czech cast of characters.

"About half a year ago, a flood of parodies of various AI films as they would look if Wes Anderson had made them swept through YouTube...I was a bit surprised that no Czech versions appeared, so I decided to remedy that as part of my testing of the new AI tools," Spáčil wrote on YouTube.

The creator has promised to share a "Making of" video revealing how the project was brought to life with help from AI.

While Anderson has said that he ''chooses not to engage" with AI imitations, he has certainly drawn inspiration from the Czech aesthetic. The Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary inspired his 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson, alongside fellow filmmakers Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, have also cited special effects wizard Karel Zeman as an inspiration.