By Michaela Gordoni
Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns said the studio can make adult-oriented films into family flicks using an AI company called Runway.
The studio could take a movie like JOHN WICK, for example, and put it in another format or change the gory parts to make it more family-friendly.
“Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie,” Burns said.
He added he would still have to pay the actors and all of the rights participants, “But I can do that, and now I can resell it.”
New York Magazine previously reported, “With a library as large as Lionsgate’s, they could use Runway to repackage and resell what the studio already owned, adjusting tone, format and rating to generate a softer cut for a younger audience or convert a live-action film into a cartoon.”
Related: Lionsgate Filmmakers ‘Already’ Using AI Following Recent Deal
Burns explained that the program will save the studio thousands. A ten-second shot with 10,000 soldiers on a hillside would cost millions and take days to shoot, but with Runway, it would cost just $10,000.
Burns said several filmmakers the studio works with were “already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process.”
The AI company believes it’s at the forefront of changing the entertainment landscape.
Runway offers a set of tools: Runway Gen-4, Act-One and others. Gen-4 allows users to generate characters, locations and objects against scenes. It allows for flexible manipulation of objects, characters and elements, with complex movements that are easy to control.
Act-one allows users to generate expressive characters that can be applied to any kind of character, whether cartoon or life-like. It can handle multi-turn, expressive dialogue scenes and provide custom voices. The company makes it seem as though the possibilities are endless.
Should AI remake R-rated films into family-friendly movies?
Lionsgate has allowed Runway to use its extensive library to train its AI tools.
“The entertainment business is a creative enterprise, but its future growth will require a combination of art and science,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. “We believe that AI, harnessed within the appropriate guardrails, can be a valuable tool to serve our talent. And we believe that over the long term, it will have a positive transformational impact on our business.”
Burns emphasized that Lionsgate sees AI the next best medium for creating entertainment.
Runway co-founder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said, “Lionsgate has an incredible creative team and a clear vision for how AI can help their work – we’re excited to help bring their ideas to life.”
As Lionsgate races down the AI road, it will be interesting to see what it creates.
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