RGV calls Cedance 2.0, Chinese video AI model, the killer of the film industry
Ram Gopal Varma alias RGV has termed Cedance 2.0, a video AI model from China, as the “killer of the film industry”. His comments come as dozens of clips created using Seidance have gone viral due to their film-like realism.
When ByteDance released Cdance in June 2025, it shook the film industry around the world. Writers, directors and studios suddenly found themselves looking for equipment capable of producing high quality cinematic video in seconds at minimal cost. Cut to 2026, and ByteDance has introduced CDance 2.0, a more advanced and far more powerful AI model. outcome? There is anarchy, curiosity and considerable trepidation regarding the survival of traditional filmmaking. So much so that Indian filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is now calling it “the killer of the film industry”.
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In other words, RGV is saying that AI is not coming to the film industry and all the jobs it provides, but it is already here. The Chinese video AI model Cedance 2.0 is so good that it has already become a hit for Bollywood and Hollywood.
In a post on
“Real democracy is about taking the tools out of the hands of the elite and putting them in the hands of the people. That’s what Cedense did to cinema,” he wrote on Wednesday.
In his note RGV drew a comparison between the clip made by Seadance 2.0 at a cost of a few dollars and the clip produced by blockbuster filmmakers like SS Rajamouli using huge budgets. He said that low costs mean that the days of gatekeeping within the film industry are over.
He wrote, “Cedance 2.0 simply kicked down that gate and set it on fire. It can take narrative cues (from users) and create cinematic, multi-shot, sound-designed, devastatingly impactful scenes that look as if they cost hundreds of crores of rupees to create and took months or years to create.” “Suddenly, a creative person in Gorakhpur or Coimbatore or Satara or anywhere, who is doing a simple job to feed his family, who can’t even afford to come to Mumbai, can just write a scene and people like Seedance can create it for him – and that’s real democracy.”
While RGV finds SeeDance 2.0 an exciting development, he also questions what it means for the film industry at large. He describes AI tools as a potential threat to the collaborative ecosystem of filmmaking, as actors, cinematographers, editors, production designers, VFX teams, composers, light technicians and spot boys all could face extinction if AI evolves to independently create full-length, theatrical-quality films.
“There’s no star problem anymore. Producers are no longer nervous about the budget. No more ‘we’ll fix it later.’ “Not over 300 people standing waiting for a shot, just one person,” he wrote. “Dinosaurs ruled for 100 years. Now the asteroid has arrived.”
In recent times, many clips made with Sedans 2.0 have gone viral. For example:
Sedan 2.0 public launch delayed after Hollywood protests?
While RGV is appreciative of the Sedans 2.0, not everyone is equally receptive. In fact, Hollywood has reacted bitterly and angrily to AI models. Major studios including The Walt Disney Company, Netflix, and Warner Bros. have reportedly sent legal notices to ByteDance, potentially causing an indefinite delay in the global rollout of CDance 2.0. The AI tool, which is still in controlled access, was expected to launch publicly on February 24.
As clips created with CDance 2.0 went viral over the past few weeks, the Motion Picture Association has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, reportedly labeling its AI tool a “systemic violation machine.”
The Hollywood studio has also accused ByteDance of training the model, using what it described as a “pirate library” of copyrighted movies and characters. As a result, ByteDance has reportedly halted the wider release to introduce stricter content filters and legal safeguards.
