In a little less than 6 years, the year 2030 will be upon us. The future of cinema is uncertain, just as any future is uncertain. Look back 6 years ago from today in 2018, could we have predicted our current landscape of cinema? I mean its only 6 years right? 2018 was quite an important year for cinema. There were Oscar favourites like The Favourite and… eh, that’s about it. Mitchell Favourites like Under the Silver Lake, and Hereditary. An animated masterpiece with Into the Spider-verse. Straight up masterpiece’s with The Meg and Venom. But it was Marvel who was on top of the world with Avengers: Infinity War. Nothing could stop them or the hype train their movies brought. Nothing except… time (and Covid sorta). Six years have past, and the current state of comic book movies isn’t looking too good, and what can only be described as a fatigue has set in in regards to these types of films. But the impact that these movies have had on cinema cannot be understated. While Covid has had a huge impact on cinemas and the way we watch movies, I strongly believe cinemas are currently too integral to the way we watch films and more prominently, the way we watch blockbuster films. So for 2030, I want to focus on what kinds of films we might possibly, probably, and preferably see in Cinemas.
POSSIBLE FUTURE
As stated previously, the superhero genre seems to be going through a bit of a dip (and I’m not buying it) and fatigue in general audiences has set in. Over the past few years though, another genre of adaptations has become wildly popular. Video game adaptations. No doubt we will continue to be bombarded with an endless string of these flicks until the dead horse has been well and truly beaten. Over the past year we’ve received five wide release video game adaptations with Gran Turismo, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Borderlands. This trend in what is being made, and the audiences that are consuming them only seems to be on the incline. Look at the current list of upcoming video game film adaptations (not including TV shows which is another can of worms).
When asking ChatGPT the kinds of films we may see in 2030, It gave some unlikely examples such as Holographic and Augmented Reality Films. I just don’t believe our technology will be quite at that point come 2030. It also gave some obvious answers like Expanded Cinematic Universes, Diverse Representation, and the previously mentioned Video Game Adaptations. An interesting example that seems to be a common topic when it comes to art in general lately is AI generated films. While I think it may be a stretch to see a fully produced work solely from AI that’s shown on screens by 2030, we might at a future time (2050 perhaps?). What I think might be likely though is AI generated scripts.
I think a lot of what ChatGPT is saying here is the reason why we could see AI used more frequently in films come 2030. Already we are seeing AI being used for marketing with the new A24 film Civil War, and in production design with Late Night with the Devil. Its not too much of a stretch to say producers might start incorporating AI generated or assisted scripts into films.
PROBABLE FUTURE
So we’ve looked at the possible futures of films we could be seeing in cinemas come 2030, but what are we probably going to see? I think Video game adaptations are a sure fire considering the amount of content producers have for the picking. There’s already an audience for the IP so taking the existing franchise and adapting it for the big screen is a safer bet than taking a risk on something new. We’ve seen it done with comic book movies and were seeing it done right now with video game adaptations so it likely not to stop anytime soon.
What about AI though? I think a lot of what ChatGPT is say about AI generated scripts is the reason why we could see AI used more frequently in films come 2030. Already we are seeing AI being used for marketing with the new A24 film Civil War, and in production design with Late Night with the Devil. Its not too much of a stretch to say producers might start incorporating AI generated or at least, assisted scripts into films. I think these are some of the key ways and reasons we might see Artificial intelligence being used for scripts:
Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness
Collaboration with Human Writers
Continual Improvement
PREFERABLE FUTURE
I’m not opposed to seeing more video game adaptations. I do think eventually things will get stale and audiences will become sick of seeing them though. AI is a different story though. The change isn’t being wildly accepted. Industry professionals feel they could lose not only their jobs to AI, but films overall could lose the element that makes them human stories. While AI wasn’t the concern of the recent screenwriters and actors strike, it was a major concern for both parties with “screenwriters having experienced an existential crisis due to the invasion of these new technologies, and actors are against their faces being used without their permission or compensation. “ (E Noticias Financieras English, 2023). I am of the same sentiment that if films start incorporating more AI driven stories and film production element in general, we not only lose human stories, we lose human made art. A reason the Civil War marketing and Late Night with the Devil AI art designs caused such a stir, is because that’s someone job which has now been taken over by AI for the sake of cost cutting. The more and more AI is incorporated, the more jobs become obsolete. AI just isn’t something I’m comfortable seeing in film and honestly, would rather it just be kept at an arms length away from it.
REFERENCES
CE Noticias Financieras English, 2023, ‘It’s not a movie: AI sparks Hollywood strike’ https://www.proquest.com/docview/2836916446?parentSessionId=c7BVpk0PS5vbeAJjtzv1yVN94F9nlt3iwG2S5EwDXu4%3D&pq-origsite=primo&accountid=15112&sourcetype=Wire%20Feeds [15 May]
Frank, J 2023, ‘The 2023 Hollywood strike for Dummies’ https://www.vulture.com/article/wga-strike-2023.html [14 May]
Bankhurst, A 2024 ‘Upcoming New Video Game Movies and TV Shows: 2024 Release Dates and Beyond’ https://www.ign.com/articles/upcoming-video-game-movies-and-tv-shows [15 May]
Hibberd, J 2024, ‘A24’s New AI-Generated ‘Civil War’ Ads Generate Controversy’ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/a24-civil-war-posters-controversy-1235876340/ [16 May]
Earl, W 2024, ‘Late Night With the Devil’ Directors Explain Using AI Art in the Film, Say They ‘Experimented’ With Three Images Only (EXCLUSIVE)’ https://variety.com/2024/film/news/late-night-with-the-devil-ai-images-clarification-1235947599/ [16 May]
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