It’s news to no one that the movie industry is getting jittery about AI.
Consumer products such as Sora and Veo have the power to turn anyone into a wannabe Spielberg.
After texting a friend of mine who works in film one of the AI videos doing the rounds, she responded, half-jokingly, “Is this about AI? Everyone is freaking out”.
You only have to look at how far the technology has come in the past two years to understand the concern.
AI videos are everywhere. Everyone is in a state of collective awe how quickly things have advanced. It’s a trend that has big implications for much more than the movie industry.
“Look how amazing this all is!” feels like the collective message on our social media feeds.
To paraphrase Syndrome from The Incredibles, when everyone is an FX artist, no one will be.
Thanks to a very generous family Christmas present, I am now an Odeon Limitless card holder. For readers beyond the UK, this allows all-you-can-eat cinema access for a monthly fee.
(Side note: the downside is you feel under unrelenting pressure to head to the cinema at every spare moment. If I don’t make it twice a month, I have a lingering sense of failure).
It means I’m getting to see a lot of great flicks, a long-time passion. During the bank holiday weekend I showed up for the latest installment of Mission Impossible.
My layman’s verdict? Blockbuster cinema as it should be. Tom Cruise providing his usual dose of ‘edge of your seat will he run fast enough to beat the explosion?’ adrenaline.
(Really, there is an awful lot of running away from fire).
Which got me thinking. One thing that AI won’t kill? The A-List movie star.
I won’t spoil it, but there’s a genuinely breathtaking set of scenes at the end where Ethan Hunt plays WW1 pilots with the film’s antagonist.
You have to remind yourself that Cruise is now a sexagenarian and as good as ever.
He even famously does his own stunts.
The fear in his eyes as he scrambles along the wing of a biplane, 2,000 meters above the ground? The sharp intake of breath as he meanders along the wing, finally managing to reach the cockpit? The sweat on his forehead as he is surrounded by smoke, the engine igniting in a real fire?
All genuine.
No amount of AI can replace the awe of seeing another Homo Sapien (albeit a physically superior one to your regular Joe) doing that.
It could be you or me up there, if we spent a bit longer in the gym.
One thing I’m less certain about is whether AI will kill a good script.
Would you pay 10 bucks to see the fruits of a masterfully written generative prompt? I probably wouldn’t. Knowing a story has been crafted by human hand is part of its appeal for me.
But there are obvious dangers.
For those second tier of actors, beyond the A-List, and those who work in the background. When you’re not the person who gets the bums on the seat like Mr Cruise, you might be replaceable.
For the Marvel-esque CGI fests too, where audiences know what they’re watching is computer generated. I would be feeling particularly nervous right now if my employer was Wētā FX or Industrial Light & Magic.
For actors and writers who have their work used to train AI models. We have seen the myriad of lawsuits and strikes in Hollywood. A trend which is the tip of the iceberg.
You only have to look at the brilliant research from the CoSTAR Foresight Lab and Jie Huang at Loughborough University, to see the myriad of industry sectors that will be hit.
But there is a nice moment before Ethan takes us on the final mission, before Paramount’s star-spangled production logo has even appeared.
Cruise, not Hunt, surprises us on screen and talks directly to camera. In Hollywood style it’s slightly melodramatic.
“Every mission has led to this” says Tom. “Thanks to the fantastic cast and crew” for bringing us the “most authentic cinema experience we could.”
He might be a good actor, but the look in his eyes is authentic too. Melodramatic maybe, but he means it.
Just like on the biplane, you can tell it’s genuine.
The personal relationship built up between A-Lister and loyal audience over 20 years of a great franchise?
AI has no chance.