Paul Schrader Sees AI Protagonists Becoming Box Office Draws: “You Do The New Clint Eastwood” Via Text Prompt

Paul Schrader has long been on the record as an advocate of AI – or at least as a rare 79-year-old filmmaker eager to experiment with technology.

Even so, his keynote speech Thursday at AI on the Lot sketched out a future of film that played well to an audience of converts but will likely raise hackles in other parts of the industry.

“I don’t think the real future of AI commercially is in all this flash, all these monsters – that’s just jacked-up special effects on steroids,” he said. “The real tip of the spear is when we can create an AI protagonist, not a hybrid, and that movie makes money. When you do the new Clint Eastwood, but you don’t say the words ‘Clint Eastwood’ to AI, you just describe him. And he comes up as Clint Eastwood.”

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