Chum(2026)

The shark and blood effects were AI-generated — and critics called it "AI slop." Prior to release, the film drew controversy for using artificial intelligence to generate its visual effects. Reviewers noted that the shark, the bloody ocean water, and fire sequences all looked like shoddy AI-generated imagery, with one critic explicitly applying the term "AI slop" to the production.

The story concept was developed by a three-person team before the director touched it. The original concept and story outline were crafted by James Kondelik, Ryan R. Johnson, and Dick Grunert before director Jonathan Zuck and co-writer Joe Leone adapted it into the final shooting script — a multi-stage writing process for an 87-minute film.

It was shot on location in Malta. The Mediterranean yacht setting was filmed practically in Malta, with cinematographer Mac Fisken capturing the coastal scenery — though one critic noted that the wedding-reception sequence had to be shot in a way that clunkily concealed the production's lack of extras, with disembodied off-screen clapping added in post-production.