Hollywood

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just made the kind of statement that sounds absurd until you remember what year it is: only humans can win Oscars. In a sweeping rules update announced May 2nd, the Academy declared that acting performances must be “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” and screenplays must be “human-authored” to qualify for nomination at the 99th Academy Awards in March 2027. Ninety-nine years of handing out golden statues, and they never had to spell this out before. ...

The most impressive AI video generator on the planet just got grounded — not by a technical failure, but by a wall of lawyers. ByteDance has officially suspended the global launch of Seedance 2.0, the AI video model that went viral earlier this year for producing disturbingly realistic clips. The reason? A coordinated legal blitz from Disney, Netflix, and Paramount that makes it crystal clear: Hollywood isn’t going to let its intellectual property become free training data. ...

There’s a delicious irony in Ben Affleck — the guy who once told Joe Rogan that AI couldn’t “write anything meaningful” — quietly building an AI company for three years and then selling it to the biggest streamer on Earth. Netflix announced this week that it acquired InterPositive, a 16-person AI filmmaking tools startup Affleck founded in stealth back in 2022. Deal terms undisclosed. Affleck joins as senior adviser. And every filmmaker working with Netflix now gets access to tools that could fundamentally rewire post-production. ...

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt trading punches on a crumbling rooftop. Donald Trump doing kung fu in a bamboo grove. Will Smith battling a spaghetti monster in what looks like a $200 million blockbuster. None of it is real. All of it was made in minutes by a Chinese AI tool that just sent Hollywood into full meltdown. ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 launched last week and immediately became the most controversial AI release since DeepSeek rattled Silicon Valley. The clips it produces are so convincing that Deadpool screenwriter Rhett Reese looked at the Cruise vs. Pitt footage and wrote: “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.” ...