Lionsgate's AI Deal Sounds a Lot Like It Wants to Replace the Jobs of Storyboard and VFX Artists

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Cine-files

Lionsgate, the studio behind hit franchises ranging from "John Wick" to "The Hunger Games" and cult classics like "American Psycho," is entering into a major partnership with the AI firm Runway, The Wall Street Journal reports.

As part of the deal announced Wednesday, Runway gains access to Lionsgate’s extensive library of movies and TV shows. In return, the startup will use this content to train a new AI model developed exclusively for the Hollywood studio.

Copy That

This marks the first deal of its kind between Runway and a major Hollywood studio. For Lionsgate, the timing is noteworthy: only last month the company faced criticism for using fabricated, AI-generated quotes attributed to well-known film critics in a trailer for Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s forthcoming sci-fi epic.

Runway also brings its own challenges to the partnership. Along with other generative-AI companies such as Midjourney, it faces a lawsuit from artists alleging copyright infringement for training its models on their work without permission.

By securing direct access to Lionsgate’s library, Runway sidesteps these copyright obstacles, potentially setting a more legally sound precedent for AI adoption across the film industry.

This element distinguishes the agreement from other studio–AI collaborations, which typically do not grant AI firms permission to train on proprietary film and television libraries, according to Jeff Katzin, a partner at Bain & Company who advised Lionsgate on its AI strategy.

Above Board

The partnership underscores the film industry’s position at an AI crossroads in 2026. Major studios continue to explore the technology even as it remains contentious among creative professionals. Those tensions peaked in 2025, when actors and screenwriters staged a landmark strike that secured significant new protections against unauthorized AI use.

This week, California built on those safeguards by passing two new laws that prohibit the use of AI to replicate an actor’s likeness or voice without explicit consent.

For now, Runway’s tools do not yet produce imagery of sufficient quality for direct use in film and television productions, The Wall Street Journal notes. Access to Lionsgate’s vast archive, however, may accelerate progress toward that goal.

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