Eric Jason Martin

From Metaphysics' office in Hollywood, I drove 30 minutes south to Sony Pictures' studio lot in Culver City to watch a screening of HERE in the basement of the Irving Thalberg building. And for me at least, the AI-driven scenes passed the baseline test of any ambitious movie illusion. I didn't notice it.

From Metaphysics' office in Hollywood, I drove 30 minutes south to Sony Pictures' studio lot in Culver City to watch a screening of HERE in the basement of the Irving Thalberg building. And for me at least, the AI-driven scenes passed the baseline test of any ambitious movie illusion. I didn't notice it.

But reactions are bound to vary, especially when it comes to a face as familiar as that of young Tom Hanks. A high bar for a big screen visual effect. And when an illusion doesn't work, it can be hard to focus on anything else. Maybe it will turn out to be impossible to escape Uncanny Valley after all, even with the help of AI.

But reactions are bound to vary, especially when it comes to a face as familiar as that of young Tom Hanks. A high bar for a big screen visual effect. And when an illusion doesn't work, it can be hard to focus on anything else. Maybe it will turn out to be impossible to escape Uncanny Valley after all, even with the help of AI.

Then again, the whole fuss over the Tom Cruise deepfakes was propelled by how convincing they were. And that was three years and three Nvidia chips ago. It seems like only a matter of time before they fool us all. The history of Hollywood can be told as a series of technological leaps, beginning with the invention of the camera itself.

Then again, the whole fuss over the Tom Cruise deepfakes was propelled by how convincing they were. And that was three years and three Nvidia chips ago. It seems like only a matter of time before they fool us all. The history of Hollywood can be told as a series of technological leaps, beginning with the invention of the camera itself.

And each time something new comes along, jobs are lost, jobs are created, the industry reorganizes itself. Everyone in town of a certain age has seen this movie before. Past leaps, though, have tended to have narrower impacts. Home video changed movie distribution. Digital cameras changed movie production. CGI changed visual effects.

And each time something new comes along, jobs are lost, jobs are created, the industry reorganizes itself. Everyone in town of a certain age has seen this movie before. Past leaps, though, have tended to have narrower impacts. Home video changed movie distribution. Digital cameras changed movie production. CGI changed visual effects.

The difference here is that AI has the potential to disrupt many, many places in our pipeline, says Laurie McCreary, the chief executive of Revelations Entertainment, a production company she owns with Morgan Freeman, and a board member of the Producers Guild of America. This one feels like it could be an entire industry disruptor.

The difference here is that AI has the potential to disrupt many, many places in our pipeline, says Laurie McCreary, the chief executive of Revelations Entertainment, a production company she owns with Morgan Freeman, and a board member of the Producers Guild of America. This one feels like it could be an entire industry disruptor.

AI is evolving so rapidly, though, and remains so poorly understood by so many people in Hollywood that it's difficult to predict how it will wind up proving most beneficial and which aspects of the filmmaking process it will disrupt first. Everyone's nervous, says Susan Sprung, the producer's guild's chief executive, and yet no one's quite sure what to be nervous about.

AI is evolving so rapidly, though, and remains so poorly understood by so many people in Hollywood that it's difficult to predict how it will wind up proving most beneficial and which aspects of the filmmaking process it will disrupt first. Everyone's nervous, says Susan Sprung, the producer's guild's chief executive, and yet no one's quite sure what to be nervous about.

The use of AI in here is a critical element in its broader illusion, but it's also a small one in a movie full of old-fashioned visual invention. And aging and de-aging actors is just one way that filmmakers are tinkering with AI-driven facial replacement. It's also being used in stunt photography, foreign language dubbing, and increasingly in lieu of reshoots.

The use of AI in here is a critical element in its broader illusion, but it's also a small one in a movie full of old-fashioned visual invention. And aging and de-aging actors is just one way that filmmakers are tinkering with AI-driven facial replacement. It's also being used in stunt photography, foreign language dubbing, and increasingly in lieu of reshoots.

AI applications are often divided into two broader categories. The first is generative AI, which helps artists and studios create things. Then there is agentic AI, which helps them get things done.

AI applications are often divided into two broader categories. The first is generative AI, which helps artists and studios create things. Then there is agentic AI, which helps them get things done.

A new AI tool called Kalea, for instance, reads scripts and generates 35-page coverage reports, along with historical comparisons and suggested theatrical release patterns, the core duty of countless junior studio executives' daily work life, though perhaps not for long.

A new AI tool called Kalea, for instance, reads scripts and generates 35-page coverage reports, along with historical comparisons and suggested theatrical release patterns, the core duty of countless junior studio executives' daily work life, though perhaps not for long.

gen ai is depending on your vantage point either the fun kind or the dystopic kind it's either going to empower artists or replace them or do both but gen ai is also the category where all the creative exploration is happening and where filmmakers are learning on the fly how it can help them tell new stories and they believe make better movies

gen ai is depending on your vantage point either the fun kind or the dystopic kind it's either going to empower artists or replace them or do both but gen ai is also the category where all the creative exploration is happening and where filmmakers are learning on the fly how it can help them tell new stories and they believe make better movies