Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky used AI to travel back in time 250 years ago to the American Revolution. But he tapped real-life human actors to provide voices in documenting key events of the country’s foundational conflict.
Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup, the AI studio he formed last year, announced “On This Day… 1776,” an animated series that re-creates moments from America’s founding year. The studio has licensed the series to Time Studios, which will distribute the episodes across Time’s YouTube channel throughout 2026. The first two episodes premiered Thursday.
The short-form series uses a combination of “traditional filmmaking tools and emerging AI capabilities,” including from Google’s DeepMind AI division, to tell the stories about the Revolutionary War. The individuals in the series are voiced by SAG-AFTRA union actors, according to Primordial Soup.
Each episode recreates scenes and moments from 1776 on their 250th anniversaries, reframing the conflict “not as a foregone conclusion but as a fragile experiment shaped by those who fought for it,” per Primordial Soup. Episode 1, “January 1: The Flag,” dramatizes the moment when the Grand Union Flag was raised on Prospect Hill, 250 years to the month after it happened. Episode 2, “January 10: Common Sense,” follows Thomas Paine’s arrival from England, where Benjamin Franklin encourages him to write what others hesitate to say, resulting in the famous pamphlet that sent ripples through the colonies and across the Atlantic.
“This project is a glimpse at what thoughtful, creative, artist-led use of AI can look like — not replacing craft, but expanding what’s possible and allowing storytellers to go places they simply couldn’t before,” said Ben Bitonti, president of Time Studios.
“On This Day… 1776” was executive produced by Aronofsky. The writers room is led by Lucas Sussman. The series features an original score by Jordan Dykstra.
The series is produced by Primordial Soup with backing by sponsor Salesforce. (Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff, with his wife Lynne Benioff, owns Time magazine.) The production’s global team of writers, designers and AI specialists used Salesforce’s Slack to collaborate. Episodes will be released weekly on Time’s YouTube channel throughout 2026, with each installment timed to the anniversary of the historical event it depicts.
Watch the trailer for “On This Day… 1776”:
