In Hollywood’s latest frontier, the film industry is racing to embrace Artificial Intelligence, launching what many are calling a new “space race” to produce the first blockbuster predominantly crafted by AI.
Traditionally cautious about technological shifts, the filmmaking world often clings to its roots. Many directors remain loyal to 35mm film over digital formats, while others view CGI and blue screen effects as threats to their artistic integrity.
As a result, AI has been met with significant skepticism among veteran filmmakers. Yet, in the paradoxical and often cutthroat environment of Hollywood, this skepticism runs parallel to a fervent behind-the-scenes effort. Studios, directors, and screenwriters are eagerly exploring AI to push creative boundaries and captivate audiences with something groundbreaking.
“The space race was about being first, but it was also about inspiring the world that we should keep competing and keep investing [in the technology]. Bigger than being first, which is fleeting, is inspiring the world,” Bryn Mooser, a two-time Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker, shared with The Post.
Though fully AI-produced films have emerged, they usually come with modest budgets and primarily find their audience online, crafted by highly creative individuals. As of now, these AI films are still a rarity in mainstream theaters.
However, household names are testing the waters and teasing their involvement with AI, which sources say probably goes much further than they are letting on.
In 2025, legendary director Martin Scorsese aligned with the German AI company Black Forest Labs to use its technology, announcing it would be part of pre-production and creating storyboards.
“I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences,” he somewhat cryptically told the New York Times.
Traditionalists were outraged that the man who previously labored over hand-drawn boards for movies like “Raging Bull,” painstakingly sketching boxing fight scenes so their ragged lines conveyed the energy he wanted from star Robert De Niro, would eschew his natural talents to use technology.
But as Scorsese and many others like him know, any new tool presents an opportunity, and if you’re not involved, you’ll be left behind.
“They are scared to admit it publicly, but it is a tool that gives an advantage. If you don’t use it, you’ll be at a disadvantage to those who are using AI,” David Defendi, a screenwriter and founder of an AI software company, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Seeing the opportunity, Oscar-winner Ben Affleck invested in AI startup InterPositive. They have said their technology can be used to adjust the lighting in scenes, remove stunt ropes, or correct continuity errors — the kind of things that are handy on real sets, shooting real actors.
Netflix bought the company in a deal worth up to $600 million, which insiders say is a lot of money for apparent “rope-removing” tech.
Keen not to tip their hands, the main players in Hollywood are playing their cards close to their vest. “The thing with AI right now in Hollywood: Everyone’s lying just a little bit… Studios are lying about how much they’re using it,” media mogul Janice Min recently told Business Insider.
They’re also tiptoeing around angry movie industry unions, who are all daring someone to step over the line and admit to using AI in a role that took work away from any creative, vowing all hell will break loose when they do.
However, once that genie is out of the bottle, it’s open season.
Mooser explained that forward-thinking production companies are “using [AI] technology and putting in the filmmakers to make it happen. And when it does, alarm bells will be sent through all the studios. It’s going to be a real wake-up call.”
One thing unions have been particularly vocal about: no AI-generated characters, such as the controversial Tilly Norwood, a beautiful young lab-created female star, who had been the subject of anger and ridicule, but still landed a role in comedy-drama “Misaligned.”
Everything else, it seems, can be gotten away with. The closest thing to an AI blockbuster up for grabs so far is “Killing Satoshi,” starring Ben’s brother, Casey Affleck, and comic Pete Davidson.
The upcoming Bitcoin-themed movie is being directed by Doug Liman — who worked with Tom Cruise in the drug-smuggling action-comedy “American Made,” and will include over 200 locations that, according to The Wrap, extend from Antarctica to Antigua and will all be created with AI.
Filming is being done on a “grey box” stage, where Casey and Davidson will act and have worlds created around them. Some of the editing will also help smooth things over.
If that’s not enough to upset the traditionalists and unions, the budget surely will. Liman claimed the movie’s budget dropped from $300 million to $70 million thanks to the use of AI, slashing travel costs and reducing shooting time.
Another big indie director, Darren Aronofsky, Oscar-nominated for directing “Black Swan,” has thrown himself headlong into AI-created work, executive producing a collection of American Revolution shorts called “On This Day… 1776.” They were met with mixed reviews, but they were certainly a landmark in AI creation.
From the actors’ side, many have copyrighted their images to prevent misuse online, such as “Interstellar” and “Magic Mike” star Matthew McConaughey, who filed eight trademark applications to stop his likeness from appearing online.
One of the hottest trends among actors is to work with a lab to scan their digital image, so it can be used in AI productions without them lifting a finger.
Such tech is being used to bring Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, back to life. His last announced movie, “Deep as the Grave,” is now being finished with archival footage and AI creations of him.
British actor Michael Caine retired years ago, but he has licensed his voice to the company ElevenLabs for use in various commercial situations, including narration of “The Odyssey” audio book. It is Sir Michael’s voice, but done through AI, so he did not need to read the entire book out loud. McConaughey — an investor in the company — is using the same tech to translate his voice into Spanish. It’s reasonable to think his image and likeness may end up being an ElevenLabs project in the future.
Meanwhile, one of Scorsese’s old pals, screenwriter-turned-director Paul Schrader — who scripted “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”— is on board with the new AI dawn.
He’s had a few hiccups, including an abandoned remake of a John Wayne movie and the Screen Actors Guild forbidding him from using computer-generated characters in his in-production film noir, but he anticipates an upcoming AI film.
“By the time I get out, there will be 10 or 20 AI films ahead of me. And one of those is going to make a lot of money,” he predicts.
And with the way online virality works now, perhaps that movie won’t even come from Hollywood at all.
“Imagine somebody who [makes a movie using AI], and it gets hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, and it gets talked about. It’s so popular people are wearing costumes of the characters in it for Halloween. That’s coming,” says Mooser, whose production company Asteria has five AI-enabled films in the works. “It’s a paradigm shift. If you suddenly have the technology to do things that are indistinguishable from a Marvel movie, then you’re only limited by your passion – although, of course, you still need to tell a good story.”
And in that respect, the best storytellers will have many advantages. Schrader half-joked that for an 83-year-old director like Scorsese, AI may serve an unexpected purpose: “He’s getting on in age. Maybe that’s how he makes a last film. He doesn’t have to leave the house!”
