Bill Hader: No AI Beats Scorsese, Cat in the Hat Next
Bill Hader has yet to see AI-generated work he would rank above a Martin Scorsese film.
He said it on Thursday, 17 September, during a keynote conversation at the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit presented by EY in Los Angeles. Variety executive editor Michael Schneider led the interview, according to the summit programme organised by Variety. Variety
Hader was blunt about the limits. He said he had not seen AI-generated work that he thought was better than Scorsese. It was a short answer. It drew a clear line.
The conversation then turned to his own slate. Hader voices the Cat in the Hat in a Warner Bros. animated adaptation due in November. The film reunites him with co-director Erica Rivinoja, who worked with him on South Park almost two decades ago.
He joked that he approached the Cat the same way he approached Barry. Hader co-created the HBO series Barry with Alec Berg and directed the majority of its episodes. The quip, shared by Variety on social media, got a laugh from the room. Variety
Hader also detailed a sharp turn into horror. He wrote and directed a psychological horror film titled They Know. He stars in it opposite Linda Cardellini.
Then came an update for television viewers. Hader said he and Daniel Zelman are still working through a Jonestown project at HBO. Variety reported in April 2025 that Hader was developing and would potentially star in an HBO project about cult leader Jim Jones, with Zelman set to co-write.
For fans, this means three very different jobs moving at once. A family voice role in November. A horror film he controls from script to set. And a heavy historical drama still being shaped behind the scenes.
