Hollywood loves a good controversy almost as much as it loves a reboot. In an era where AI seems to be taking over everything, from customer service to writing bad LinkedIn posts, there’s one thing it won’t be replacing anytime soon, real cinema. At least, not if Dakota Johnson has anything to say about it.
In a recent interview, Johnson did not hold back on her thoughts about AI-generated movies and the increasing role of corporate decision-making in filmmaking. And let’s be real, she made some solid points. So, why exactly does she believe AI will never take over Hollywood? Buckle up, folks, because we’re diving in.
Hollywood by an algorithm?
According to Dakota Johnson, movies aren’t just numbers, data points, and whatever the latest trend is on TikTok. Imagine if AI tried to remake Titanic but decided to change the ending because market research indicates audiences prefer happier conclusions. Would Jack survive? Probably. Would we riot? Absolutely.
The thing is, Hollywood has already been flirting with AI-driven decision-making for a while. Scripts get rewritten based on algorithm-driven audience predictions, casting decisions are made using data analysis, and marketing teams rely on trends rather than gut instincts. But Johnson argues that this isn’t how great cinema is made. In an interview with Bustle, she said,
It’s so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made — and it’s even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out — decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms.
She’s got a point. Would The Godfather have been as iconic if an AI decided the story needed fewer boring dialogue scenes and more explosions? Probably not. Great films have always come from human instincts, creativity, and sometimes, pure chaos. AI just doesn’t have the same ability to tap into human emotion, no matter how many lines of code it’s got.
Audiences know when they’re being conned
There’s a running joke that Hollywood executives think audiences will watch anything if it’s got enough CGI and a big enough budget. And while that might have worked for a while, Dakota Johnson believes people are getting tired of being treated like they have the attention span of a goldfish. She told Bustle,
My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullsh*t. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f*cking want to see them.
It’s not just about AI, though, it’s about the way the industry is shifting. Johnson pointed out that even indie films are starting to fall victim to corporate decision-making, which is, frankly, terrifying. Indie films are supposed to be the wild, unfiltered, artsy cousin of mainstream Hollywood. If those start getting filtered through AI-driven algorithms, we’re all doomed.
Of course, Johnson isn’t just speaking as an outsider looking in. She’s been there. In fact, she hinted that she had firsthand experience with signing on to a project that started as one thing and turned into something completely different.
That’s the thing about Hollywood, sometimes an actor signs up for what they think is going to be an exciting, creative project, only to find out halfway through that it’s been turned into a corporate Frankenstein’s monster. And that is the Hollywood experience in a nutshell.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
