The entertainment company behind “The Hunger Games” and “Twilight” plans to start using generative artificial intelligence in the creation of its new movies and TV shows, a sign of the emerging technology’s advance in Hollywood. Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to give Runway, one of several fast-evolving AI startups, access to its content library in exchange for a new, custom AI model that the studio can use in the editing and production process. The deal—the first of its kind for Runway and one that could become a blueprint in the entertainment industry—comes as creatives, actors and studio executives debate whether to use the new technology and how to protect their copyright material. Advocates say generative AI can enhance creators’ work and help a cash-strapped industry save time and money. Michael Burns, vice chairman of Lionsgate Studio, expects the company to be able to save “millions and millions of dollars” from using the new model. The studio behind the “John Wick” franchise and “Megalopolis” plans to initially use the new AI tool for internal purposes like storyboarding—laying out a series of graphics to show how a story unfolds—and eventually creating backgrounds and special effects, like explosions, for the big screen. “We do a lot of action movies, so we blow a lot of things up and that is one of the things Runway does,” Burns said. Lionsgate, like many Hollywood studios, had been hesitant to engage with generative AI tools given concerns among creators that the technology could replace them. How entertainment companies use generative AI was a major sticking point in negotiations during last year’s Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes.

Full exclusive : Lionsgate, the studio behind The Hunger Games, John Wick, and Twilight, signs a deal with Runway to use generative AI in its movies and TV shows.