Tyler Perry has halted his staggering £600 million studio plans.
The legendary filmmaker, who is notoriously close pals with the Sussexes, is speaking out amid growing fears of artificial intelligence infiltrating Hollywood despite resolutions set after the SAG-AFTRA strike last year that brought the industry to a standstill.
As the sector continues to recover from the 118-day strike, the 54-year-old is not lifting the halt on his own plans to build 12 soundstages on his 330-acre property in Atlanta.
Planning for the £600m expansion of his studio started four years but the Madea creator doesn’t seem hopeful about the future of movie-making and his ambitions are “currently and indefinitely” on hold.
The businessman shared an inside view into the industry with The Hollywood Reporter, saying the atmosphere currently feels like everyone “is running a hundred miles an hour” in a desperate attempt to “put in safety belts to keep livelihoods afloat”.
Tyler’s insights come after OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora debuted on February 15, which rocked the director to his core as he admitted the AI is “mind-blowing” and “shocking”.
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However, as both a business owner and an employee in the industry, Tyler admitted there’s a dichotomy within him when it comes to the new tech as he fears for his acting work but is excited for the new possibilities it gives filmmakers.
He gushed that thanks to the new technology, he doesn’t see his future productions needing to travel to locations or even build sets to create a movie, divulging how he can now get “a scene on the moon” just by requesting it over text.
The 54-year-old admitted he’s used AI in two of his own upcoming projects but just to “avoid ever having to sit through hours of aging makeup”.
While the businessman still sees the cost-effectiveness of the technology, he also shared hopes that companies planning to use it will have “some sort of compassion for humanity”.
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Tyler himself took a solemn moment to think of the countless construction professionals who have lost work already because he halted his studio expansion.
As an actor, Tyler feels he has to raise the alarm about the looming technological revolution in hopes the industry can unite to put in proper “guardrails” before it’s too late.
He shared: “There’s got to be some sort of regulations in order to protect us. If not, I just don’t see how we survive.”
Tyler highlighted that it’s not just fan-favourite actors under threat but that this technology will have a major impact on nearly every profession around movies, listing off “grip and electric and transportation and sound and editors” as just the start.
He pleaded for an “all hands on” approach and cautioned that years of union squabbles over contracts can’t work.
