Hollywood’s Being Reshaped by Generative AI. What Does That Mean for Screenwriters?

What do Hollywood writers really think of generative AI? In interviews with screenwriters and filmmakers, Josh Rottenberg reveals a sharp divide—some view AI as a gimmick, others hail it as a revolutionary force. To one, ChatGPT could even be the next Spielberg. As the industry barrels toward an AI-assisted future, it finds itself caught between the promise of innovation and the need to protect the human soul of storytelling.

Some studio executives may already be imagining a future with fewer writers, a field that’s historically one of the most developmentally expensive and unpredictable parts of making a movie. Since the spec script boom of the 1990s, when writers like Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon”) commanded multimillion-dollar paydays, screenwriting has carried a uniquely speculative price structure for work that’s often unproven. Robert Altman’s 1992 film “The Player” famously centered on a murder of a screenwriter, satirizing the industry’s long love-hate relationship with the written word.

But Gupta pushes back on that vision. He says AI is far from being able to write a good movie on its own — at least not yet. “You could watch it,” he says. “But you’re not going to like watching it.” What excites him more is the potential for co-creation, humans still driving the process with machines supporting rather than replacing them.