'The Creator' pits people versus programming in new sci-fi blockbuster

A war between humans and artificial intelligence is waging.

At the center of it is a superweapon that must be destroyed, and it comes in the form of a 6-year-old child.

This is the emotional and explosive plot behind an original, blockbuster sci-fi film hitting theaters on Friday. It's called "The Creator."

"I wanted to pull people in with spaceships and robots and stuff, but then try and take them on this emotional journey," explains Director Gareth Edwards.

"The Creator" creates an existential crisis of people versus programming.

It asks the question, "What does it mean to be alive?"

"I love films where it's not black and white, where it's difficult to decide who's the good and the bad guy," says Edwards, who also directed "Rogue One" in the Star Wars franchise.

He says this gut punch is one he channeled from the cinema of his childhood.

"Probably the film that had the biggest impact on me, from an emotional point of view, as a kid was E.T.," he says. "I wasn't expecting it. I went in to see this science fiction film about an alien, and I cried my heart out."

The child at the center of this cast is Madeleine Yuna Voyles, who plays "Alfie," the AI superweapon.

"We did an open casting call around the whole world," Edwards says, "and she did this scene that made you want to cry. I was tearing up as she was doing it. I just felt like, well, there's our kid."

Edwards started the script in 2018 before AI quickly evolved and quickly created a divide.

"And now, people walk into the cinema with their arms crossed, going, 'I don't like this stuff. This is wrong,'" he says. "It's a great starting place for the journey of the film."