A Wishlist Before A.I. Obliterates Hollywood

… And things were going so well, too.

Why on God’s green earth, or at least the artificially manicured lawns of Beverly Hills, would the powers that be in Hollywood want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, drive more production out of Los Angeles, and empower A.I. to cut jobs, corners, and hand the reins of the C-suites over to tech bros?

Oh, and then there’s that whole prediction from those tech bros that A.I. might just do in mankind in 5-10 years. Thanks a lot, A.I. guru Evan Hubinger. Can you say, “Frankenstein,” as in the true monster isn’t the creature but the doctor who gives the name to Mary Shelley’s novel?

2026 was turning out to be a banner year for Hollywood, too, a real turnaround since the austere COVID-19 days, to say the least. Global ticket sales were surging, setting the year on course to be Tinseltown’s best since 2019. Multiple films crossed the $1 billion threshold globally, including massive hits like Michael and Toy Story 5. The coveted 18-35 age group was actually schlepping back into the theaters with great enthusiasm and helped turn newbie filmmakers like 27-year-old Curry Barker (Obsession) and 21-year-old Kane Parsons (Backrooms) into horror wunderkinds. 

Sci-fi did boffo at the box office, too, with Project Hail Mary. The Devil Wears Prada 2 was a ginormous hit everywhere, and all the more significant since its three leads were women over 40. Christopher Nolan remade The Odyssey for IMAX, and the world ate it up like they were at Circe’s dinner table, and Oscar likely will feed at the trough, too. 

Television was on a tear as well, with great new shows yielding wide acclaim like “Pluribus” and “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.” Even Ryan Murphy’s dreadful rewrite of Lizzie Borden for Netflix turned his “Monsters” miniseries into its best ratings season yet. Streamers dominated buzz, let alone most of the awards shows so far, with the likes of Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” making a killing at the Emmys by winning the most awards ever (14 out of 19 for a single-season comedy, if you’re keeping count). 

Heck, audiences even kept Jimmy Kimmel on the air, and the courts struck down a lot of FCC bullshit trying to thwart freedom of speech in news and entertainment. All good. All admirable.  

But then …

Show biz just had to have big-moneyed enemies at the gate, and dammit, too many stormed right on in. It wasn’t enough that Spider-Man scored the biggest brand-new day ever with a billion in receipts. Nope, the overlords had to ruin the party. 

Billionaire David Ellison screwed up creative autonomy, let alone the California economy, by merging Paramount and Warner Bros/Discovery into one entity, he will lean in a more conservative direction. Disney cut jobs left and right; supposedly, some 1000+ creatives hit the bricks. And our ridiculously unpopular POTUS couldn’t even leave the Kennedy Center alone.

No wonder A.I. might want to destroy us all. If the arts are this screwed up, why wait for the rest of the world to follow? 

Well, if A.I. is going to let James Cameron say, “I told you so,” with whatever time remains for the citizenry, then by God, I want to see a few last Hollywood hopes and dreams realized before Skynet replaces Skydance. So here are some achievable goals that could and should be done before it all ends. 

And not one of them requires a computer algorithm or A.I. program:

Actors, nominate Inde Navarrette for a Best Actress Oscar for Obsession. Casting directors, start finding all kinds of projects for her too. She’s got the range and loads of personality to spare. 

Casting directors, please though, do not cast Particle 6’s A.I. ingénue, Tilly Norwood, in anything. Ever. Okay, maybe she/it can host state TV tutorials over in China since she’s so good at breaking into Cantonese as Piers Morgan can attest.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos should expand the theatrical window from his promise of 45 days to the far more worthy length of three months. People are going back to theaters, Ted, so please don’t minimize the time a film spends on the big screen any longer. 

Film critics and movie bloggers need to refrain from so much early Oscar prognosticating. A ton of potential nominees have yet to be seen, so please spend more time hawking the quality films that have already opened.

Whoever Robert Pattinson’s management team is, give them a raise. His choices and range have made him one of the best actors working today. Why, he’s starred in The Drama, The Odyssey, and Primetime just in this one year alone. Wow. 

Please bring back musical variety series. Maybe not like Sonny & Cher’s show from the 70s, but something that highlights a multi-talented performer. Perhaps someone like Janelle Monáe? 

For all those potential filmmakers on YouTube who think they’ll be the next Curry Barker or Kane Parsons, please realize that they succeeded because they know what to do with a camera and a script.  

Here’s hoping that double 2026 Emmy-winner Matthew Rhys is offered film roles worthy of his talents, as good as the roles he’s done on TV. That’s a tall order, but my fingers are crossed.

The AFI is due to announce its 53rd Life Achievement recipient in November. Please give it to someone who’s lived a true lifetime. I nominate 88-year-old Anthony Hopkins.

And while we’re looking at career honors, shouldn’t the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences get on the stick and finally give Harrison Ford their Governor’s Award? This may be the most glaring and delayed oversight in Oscar history.

And before A.I. starts cutting trailers, maybe those humans doing so now can strive to truly be less cookie-cutter and boring. Heck, most already feel like they’ve been assembled by A.I., and it’s not a good look. 

To all of Pipeline Artists’ budding screenwriters, please write a rom-com. It’s the most bereft genre out there these days, and who couldn’t use a little more love in their life?

I’d also like to see TV shows produce follow-up seasons within a year. Make one year the new standard. Not two. Not three. One. A.I. has given us five years to get our shit together, so television, get it together and show up on time. 

Oh, and getting back to the big swings that Ellison will be taking …

I hope he realizes that media and entertainment companies that all reflect his taste will leave a bitter taste in most mouths in this country. Art, creativity, and yes, even news, need to be independent, competitive, and beholden to the public. And if one’s goal is to please like-minded cronies, greedy boardrooms, and insecure politicians, then you’ve already failed in your job. Oh, and such homogenizing doesn’t make for great or lasting art either.

In a similar vein, streamers should resist cutting content and instead add more shows and films. If they want to cut costs, they can start with those corner office Christmas bonuses. 

BTW … did you know that a Los Angeles County economic analysis estimates that the Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger will jeopardize 4,500 film and TV production jobs over the next three years? There could also be a catastrophic ripple effect that would take down smaller business’s dependent upon production in L.A., let alone dozens of other states where movies and shows are filmed. Let’s hope Governor Newsom and other heads of state make it a cause célèbre.  

BTW … on a more positive note, I am really liking what I am seeing DC Studios do with their long-form programming. “Lanterns” is terrific television. (Okay, it’s not TV, it’s HBO.) Still, it would behoove DC to do more in that vein and less like the big-screen Supergirl. 

And finally …

Please, please, please have Avengers: Doomsday fulfill the last of the MCU’s obsession with linking all of their characters and history of films. There are so many great stand-alone stories in their canon, from the X-Men to the Fantastic Four to various versions of Spider-Man. There is no reason to keep connecting the dots. 

There. Those are some very reachable goals Hollywood can accomplish without A.I. and with whatever time we have left above ground on this planet. Please start with Mr. Ford’s Oscar.