Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said on the company's latest earnings call that artificial intelligence could become the 'biggest creative unlock in modern history' for film. He predicted AI will affect Hollywood more than CGI did and argued it can lower budgets, using The Terminator's $4 million original cost versus $60 to 70 million today to make his case.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said artificial intelligence could become the “biggest creative unlock in modern history” for the film industry, and he predicted it will have a bigger impact on Hollywood than computer-generated imagery did.
Ellison made the remarks during the company’s latest earnings call, in response to a question about Paramount Skydance’s outlook on AI. He pointed to the early 1990s, when CGI and digital composites changed how movies were made. That shift gave rise to films like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2. “It’s hard to imagine that AI is not going to have a more significant impact than that,” he said. “And I personally believe that’s going to be an incredible unlock on creativity.”
How could AI lower the cost of making movies?
To make his case about cost, Ellison used The Terminator as an example. He said the original film cost $4 million to make, but “if you wanted to make that picture today, shot for shot, it’s $60 to 70 million.” He argued that AI tools could help bring those budgets down to a more manageable level, which would make studios more willing to take chances on original stories. “We think these tools will help unlock more original storytelling by being able to make the budgets more digestible to be able to take that amount of risk,” he said.
Ellison said AI will “significantly” reshape Paramount Skydance’s business. The company, he said, has been building its own AI tools, and he expects the results to make content easier to produce, speed up projects throughout the organization and change how employees work.
He also said the spread of AI-generated material would not diminish the value of established franchises or live programming. “All of this makes the value of premium IP and live events more valuable, not less,” Ellison said.
Will AI replace creative talent at Paramount Skydance?
The executive acknowledged the flood of low-quality AI content that has drawn criticism online. “In a world of AI slop, we think there will always be a premium for truly hand-crafted storytelling,” he said. He added that the company still views AI as a tool rather than a substitute for creative talent. “We also continue to believe that artificial intelligence is a tool for artists and will never be a replacement for them.”
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