With this elaborate integration of AI, there is, of course, the fear that AI will take over or replace human talent. However, the recent collaboration between Lionsgate and Runway shows that it has actually been enhancing the process versus diminishing creativity. Instead of replacing their human counterparts, these technologies are being used as tools to help humans cut down on time for specific tasks, which allows them to focus on the joy of creating. It also enables more creative approaches at a lower cost.

Technology AI What a major movie studio's AI deal could mean for the future of Hollywood Generative AI might save studios'millions and millions of dollars,' but at what cost? Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. When Hollywood's actors took to the streets last year for a 118 day strike, many wielded signs reading "no digital clones," "AI is soulless," and "AI is not art." These ticked-off thespians were expressing a sentiment shared by a growing share of writers, video games voice actors, and many other creatives: generative AI tools, trained off their work, may threaten their jobs and shrink the entertainment industry. When the strike ended, actors were awarded new, hard-won protections against AI-generated clones .

It's hard not to feel the ripple effect when big shifts happen. One such shift came Wednesday when Lionsgate--the studio responsible for the John Wick, Hunger Games, and Twilight franchises--announced it had teamed up with artificial intelligence firm Runway for a "first-of-its-kind partnership" that would give the AI firm access to the studio's archives in order to create a custom AI tool for preproduction and postproduction on its film and TV shows. Runway's forthcoming tool will "help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors, and other creative talent augment their work" and "generate cinematic video that can be further iterated using Runway's suite of controllable tools," according to a press release announcing the deal. If that sounds like it might pique the interest of those who have been watching AI's influence on creatives' work, it did. If anything, the new deal could serve as a test of the AI protections that unions like the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) got in their contract negotiations with studios last year.

Lionsgate has signed a deal with the artificial intelligence research firm Runway, allowing it access to the company's large film and TV library to train a new generative model. According to the Wall Street Journal, the model will be "customized to Lionsgate's proprietary portfolio" which includes hit franchises such as John Wick, Saw and The Hunger Games. The aim is to help film-makers and other creatives "augment their work" through the use of AI. "Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner who will help us utilize AI to develop cutting-edge, capital-efficient content creation opportunities," said Michael Burns, Lionsgate's vice-chair. "Several of our film-makers are already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process. We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations."

Dimension 404 on Hulu is a science fiction anthology show in the tradition of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. TV writer Andrea Kail loved the fifth episode, "Bob," about a (literal) giant brain who works for the National Security Agency. "I thought this was one of the best things I've seen in a long time," Kail says in Episode 347 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "I thought it was incredibly good filmmaking, and incredibly great writing and acting. There was nothing about it I didn't love."

Horror and Halloween-themed films led the weekend box office before the Oct. 31 holiday with Lionsgate's latest, "Jigsaw," coming out on top while the George Clooney-helmed "Suburbicon" proved to be a massive disappointment. "Jigsaw," the eighth installment in the popular "Saw" franchise, scared up an estimated $16.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore. It tops the chart during a relatively slow week and brings to end a sluggish October, as this year's box office continues to trail that of 2016. Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, the R-rated "Jigsaw" follows, in reviewer Noel Murray's words, "bad folks stuck in an elaborate torture chamber" and earned an average B-rating from audience polling service CinemaScore and a 39% "rotten" rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. "Jigsaw" comes seven years after "Saw VII: The Final Chapter," once intended to wrap the franchise, and 13 years after the first "Saw" film.

As Labor Day weekend ushers in the unofficial end of summer, Hollywood wraps up a dismal summer box office season with movie ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada the lowest they've been in a decade. Fittingly, the box office ranks remain virtually unchanged from last week with the two films premiering this week, the re-release of Sony's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the Weinstein Co.'s "Tulip Fever" debuting at No. 14 and No. 24, respectively. Lionsgate's R-rated action comedy "The Hitman's Bodyguard" maintained the top spot for the third consecutive week, bringing in an estimated $13.4 million over the holiday weekend for a total of $58 million cumulatively. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as an imprisoned assassin who enlists the help of bodyguard Ryan Reynolds, the $30-million film received mixed reviews from audiences, earning a B rating on CinemaScore but a stale 40% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Warner Bros' horror prequel "Annabelle: Creation" remained at No. 2 on the charts, earning $9.3 million through Monday, for a total of $91 million.

Lionsgate's R-rated buddy romp "The Hitman's Bodyguard," as predicted, topped the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row as Hollywood's newest releases slumped into theaters, all three opening short of $6 million. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as an imprisoned assassin who needs the help of bodyguard Ryan Reynolds, "Hitman" (which cost $30 million to make) earned $10 million this week in the U.S. and Canada for a cumulative total of $39.6 million. The action comedy, which received mixed reviews -- earning a B rating on CinemaScore but a stale 39% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- made $21.6 million in its opening weekend and has dropped 53% since last week. Maintaining the No. 2 spot (despite a 53% drop since last weekend) was Warner Bros' horror prequel "Anabelle: Creation." The film brought in $7.6 million in its third week for a cumulative total of $77.9 million domestically.

Fisher plays a recently divorced mother of two teens and out-of-work art critic determined to cook a traditional festive dinner with all the trimmings in her sunny Southern California home for her smartphone-addicted friends and extended family. But taming the turkey proves to be the least of her challenges when her neighborhood's cell reception suddenly goes dead, which proceeds to bring out the worst in some already less than exemplary behavior from her preoccupied houseguests. Unfortunately many viewers will have experienced their own connectivity issues long before those characters do. Although there's a genuinely cozy rapport between Fisher and Stevens, the other cast members, including Daphne Zuniga, Nick Court, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Michael Muhney, have a tougher time trying to make all the overwritten, self-consciously quirky dialogue believably their own. Filmmaker Russell Brown clearly had something pertinent he wished to say about our plugged-in, tuned-out obsession with the Internet and was obviously going for a Luis Buñuel-Robert Altman style of social commentary here.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," from 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment, bested fellow new release, Lionsgate's "Deepwater Horizon" and expelled last week's victor, "The Magnificent Seven." "Miss Peregrine" brought in an estimated 28.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, meeting analyst expectations of 25 million to 30 million in its opening week. It pulled in 36.5 million internationally. "I'm very excited about it. We're thrilled," said Chris Aronson, the studio's domestic distribution chief.