Movies have changed a lot the past few decades, though no one seems to agree on why. I find it hard to believe Americans don't like going to the theater because it's too woke or some bullshit like that, there's surely something more complicated at play. There are many things we can blame this cultural shift on. Perhaps it really is the phone this time. I think the cultural system surrounding movies is simply unable to exist in the modern world, for better or worse. The system that used to work existed before you could pay less than a movie ticket to have access hundreds of movies, possibly even thousands depending on the platform. If paying for the movies isn't for you, you can just stream them online for free, either legally (through peacock or youtube) or illegally (online piracy). There's just so many movies that it makes it hard to stand out. Why watch a new movie that might suck when you can watch a movie every day for the rest of your life and never run out of content made before you were even born? The trash has already been sorted through, there's not anywhere near as big of a risk of a stinker sneaking through. In a time where people have access to nearly everything ever made, it's hard to expect them to get excited about something new, especially when the popular perception of movies is that they're all regurgitations of the past anyways. Most people would rather just stay at home, even if they have the time and money to go out
There is definitely much we can blame on the studios. Many people talk about the danger of AI as it relates to the arts, particularly movies. I think this concern has merit, but the fact this is even a worry exposes a deeper problem. An entirely AI-generated movie is boring and uninspired and without intentionality, yes, but so is a generic Hollywood blockbuster that was developed by committee to maximize profit. Many of the issues surrounding AI movies are just accelerated forms of the current problems. Movies developed by committee with the least involvement possible from the people that actually make movies interesting (actors, directors, cinematographers, etc.) are ultimately without intentionality and serve little purpose if they don't print money. With how much the budgets behind some movies have ballooned, some movies need to make a billion dollars to be seen as successful. AI films will reduce the cost of production by a lot in theory (though I suspect the companies that control the models will collude to keep the price of using said models artificially high), but there's nothing backing them anymore. Movies will become completely worthless schlock. Why the fuck would you ever pay money to watch an AI-generated movie when you can watch literally anything else for essentially free? There are some people that won't care directly about the movie being AI, but it seems as if AI movies can't really live in the current model. People will know that AI movies are cheap and they probably won't be willing to pay much of anything to see them. There will always be a market for doing things the hard way, but I think that the mainstream film industry will kill itself if it pivots to AI movies. People are barely even willing to pay for a subscription to an AI that will generate their prompts for them, so why would they be willing to pay to watch two hours of someone else's prompts? The economics are illogical in the long-run without pretty substantial changes in society