# Paramount Skydance's David Ellison calls AI potentially the "biggest creative unlock in modern history"

> On an earnings call, he said AI should outdo CGI's impact on film and make risky original projects affordable, while insisting it will never replace artists.

- URL: https://devisdead.ai/news/paramount-skydance-s-david-ellison-calls-ai-potentially-the-biggest-creative-unl
- Published: 2026-11-10T10:28:36Z
- Author: DevIsDead Newsroom
- Section: AI vs Humans
- Tags: paramount skydance, film, hollywood, generative ai
- Originally reported by The Verge (https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1030510/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-ai).

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison thinks AI will change filmmaking more than CGI did, [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1030510/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-ai) reports. Asked about AI on the company's latest earnings call, he called it potentially the "biggest creative unlock in modern history."

## The CGI comparison

Ellison pointed to the early-'90s arrival of CGI and digital compositing, which made films like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 possible, and said he finds it hard to imagine AI having a smaller effect than that.

His money example: the original Terminator cost $4 million, but remaking it shot for shot today would run $60 million to $70 million, he said. His pitch is that AI tools could shrink budgets enough for studios to take more chances on original stories.

## Inside Paramount

He said AI will reshape the business significantly and that Paramount has been building its own AI tools, which he expects to make content easier to produce, speed up projects and change how people work. He argued that all of this makes premium IP and live events worth more, not less.

He also hedged. In a world full of AI slop, Ellison said, hand-crafted storytelling will always command a premium, and he called AI a tool for artists that will never replace them.

**[Scoreboard](/scoreboard) update:** Draw. A studio boss bets on AI for cheaper films and promises artists stay in charge.

Stay undead.