Diva Jennifer Lopez is back in the movies with Atlas — an action thriller directed by Brad Peyton (San Andreas and Rampage) and written by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite.

Atlas Shepherd (played by Lopez) a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, is part of a mission to stop a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. When plans go awry, her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it. 

“Atlas is someone who has basically shut out the world around her,” Lopez told Netflix in an interview. “She doesn’t trust anybody and doesn’t want anything to do with AI.” Unfortunately, on her mission in the far reaches of space, Atlas won’t have much of a choice — stranded in a high-powered armor suit, she’s forced to confront her fear of technology by allying herself with it.

‘Atlas is told through the lens of a woman who’s learning to trust after undergoing a trauma that’s upended her life.’

Filming Locations of Atlas was mainly in a studio in Los Angeles, California, but it also highlights nature shots from Cupertino, California; Shanghai, China; the UK; and New Zealand. The principal shooting for the film began on 24 August 2022, and wrapped up by 19 November 2022.

“The heart of Atlas is really about trust and how difficult it is to trust people,” director Peyton told Netflix in an interview. “Atlas is told through the lens of a woman who’s learning to trust after undergoing a trauma that’s upended her life. It’s a reminder of how we have to have deep, meaningful relationships in our lives, in one way, shape, or form. That you can’t do everything by yourself; you have to choose to trust people at a certain point and let them in.”

For Lopez, the film’s story is as simple as they come. “I loved that this is a big sci-fi action movie, but at its core, it’s a story of friendship — and a love story, in a way,” she said. “I always see everything as a love story, but this is a different kind of love between two beings who connect in disastrous circumstances, and teach each other how to be more human.”

Watch Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) save humanity against a rouge AI robot. Its worldwide premiere happened last 24 May.