[A film slate. Photo Credit to Unsplash]

As Disney’s incoming leadership prepares to assume control this February, the studio has made a definitive shift in its filmmaking strategy: transitioning artificial intelligence from an experimental curiosity into a core operational tool.

The shift, first reported in early 2026, signals a departure from the industry’s previous “wait-and-see” approach.

Executives are now framing AI not as a creative replacement, but as essential infrastructure to manage the rising scale and complexity of modern blockbusters.

This development mirrors a broader industry trend in which artificial intelligence is moving beyond experimentation and into everyday film production.

What once appeared as a niche post-production aid is now influencing how movies are planned, edited, and managed from start to finish.

AI tools are already changing the early stages of production.

Software can analyze scripts for pacing, structure, and audience appeal before filming begins.

Certain platforms automate storyboard or scene previews, allowing directors to test visual ideas without building physical sets.

In the editing phase, AI helps sort footage, suggest rough cuts, and speed up color correction and sound balancing.

Although these tools do not make creative choices independently, they reduce the amount of manual work required to reach them.

For smaller studios and independent filmmakers, this shift reduces the cost and time needed to complete a project.

Large studios are also preparing for wider adoption following Disney’s public exploration of AI-supported production workflows.

Still, the expansion of AI has raised concerns across Hollywood as its adoption accelerates.

Actors, writers, and directors have questioned how their work might be used to train AI systems without their consent.

The ability of AI to recreate voices, faces, and performance styles has intensified debates over ownership, licensing, and compensation.

These concerns persist as studios continue testing the technology.

Actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a vocal advocate for creator rights, cautioned in a February 2026 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the speed of adoption is outpacing legal protections. 

He emphasized, “And it doesn’t work without all that human input … [so] we need to build a system for ongoing compensation.”

Levitt has also cautioned that technology alone cannot define the future of film production without consent mechanisms and accountability structures.

Others in the industry have adopted a more measured view of the technology’s long-term impact.

Actor and director Ben Affleck offered a more pragmatic view during a recent industry summit. 

Addressing the fear that AI might eventually “write and direct” movies, Affleck dismissed the notion as unlikely due to the nature of human emotion.

He argued that “I actually don't think it's very likely that it can write anything meaningful or make movies from whole cloth," describing the current anxiety as “existential dread.”

This tension between Disney’s operational efficiency and the creative community’s need for protection defines this new era of filmmaking. 

For now, AI’s role in film production remains transitional as studios test operational uses while labor groups continue monitoring rights and ownership implications.

As Disney pioneers AI-supported workflows, the rest of Hollywood is watching closely.

The success or failure of this transition will likely define how the industry balances the infrastructure of efficiency with the irreplaceable human judgment that Gordon-Levitt and Affleck both agree remains the heart of cinema.