‘Contagion’ Writer Scott Z. Burns’ New Audio Series ‘What Could Go Wrong?’ Explores Whether AI Could Write a Sequel to His Film

It’s been a while since Contagion premiered. This 2011 Steven Soderbergh-directed movie written by Scott Z. Burns provided us with a story about a massive, world-ending pandemic and our reaction to it.

The movie wasn’t a major blockbuster hit, but it received praise from both fans and critics and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it reemerged and saw a significant rise in popularity.

Now, Scott Z. Burns is going back to the movie, but not in a way you might have expected, and with a lot of help from AI!

Burns’ new project is going to be titled What Could Go Wrong? and it will be an eight-part audio series that will be available on Audible starting June 11. The project is produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Best Case Studios. So, what’s the point,t and why is this one so controversial?

Well, as Burns himself said, this project will explore whether AI could write an effective sequel to Contagion. “When I started this project I truly did not know where it would lead… I only knew where I was starting from,” Burns said.

The series will combine personal narrative, professional industry expertise, as well as Burns’ own experiments with AI, showing the good and the bad sides of using artificial intelligence while crafting an “original” work.

“And sometimes that is enough for a screenwriter,” he added. “I could have never anticipated where this would go and who I would meet along the way: both man and machine. The implications here are staggering both for the health of our industry and for the stakes of the next pandemic.”

Whether or not he succeeded and what conclusions he drew from this experiment is something we will find out this June when the series comes out.

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