Hollywood is living on a hot plate for many reasons, starting with the relative decline in theater revenues, passing through the massive merger that brought together Paramount and Warner Bros. at a value exceeding one hundred billion dollars, all the way to the greatest terror coming from the Far East, which threatens to eliminate cinematic production as Hollywood and the world have known it in the past hundred years.
The American producer realized that what was happening in China might not just be an advanced step in the use of artificial intelligence, but rather the beginning of a complete restructuring of the film industry, as a new model developed by a Chinese company behind the TikTok application emerged that succeeded in causing a shock within the film circles.
Read also
list of 4 itemsend of list
The model known as “Seedance 2.0” has proven its ability to produce full cinematic quality video, including sound effects and dialogue, based on short text commands, at a level of integration that makes the result closer to what is produced within traditional cinematic production lines.
The first version of this system appeared in June 2025, but the second version, which came eight months later, caused widespread uproar, after the results seemed to come from real studios, and not from an algorithm.
The development was not limited to improving image quality, but also included the ability to integrate text, sound, and scene into one system, which Western models have not achieved to the same degree.
Clips said to have been made using this system quickly spread, and included famous characters such as “Spiderman” and “Deadpool,” and they achieved wide spread, while the standard for evaluating this technology became linked to its ability to produce remarkably realistic scenes, such as a clip showing actor Will Smith eating a plate of pasta or facing a fictional creature in a scene that seems closer to those familiar in films spent on huge budgets.
Intellectual property rights
This development did not pass without a reaction, as major studios such as Walt Disney and Paramount were quick to accuse ByteDance of violating intellectual property rights, especially after using copyrighted characters, while authorities in other countries began investigations into the use of similar content, at a time when the company confirms that it is working to strengthen controls related to use.
According to a Reuters report, these studios have sent official legal letters demanding that they stop using their characters within artificial intelligence-generated content, considering that these practices represent a direct infringement on their commercial and artistic rights.
Regulatory authorities in Japan have begun investigations into the use of “anime” characters in similar clips that spread on the Internet, amid fears that these models may have been trained on protected materials without prior authorization.
These developments come within a broader context of escalating legal disputes over artificial intelligence. The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using its journalistic content to train models without permission. Reddit also filed a lawsuit against PerplexityAI, accusing it of illegally collecting user data, according to what Reuters reported.
On the other hand, some major companies began to search for legal and commercial solutions to these problems, as Disney concluded a huge deal to benefit from video generation technologies while maintaining the rights to use its characters, in an attempt to achieve a balance between innovation and intellectual property protection.
But the core of concern within Hollywood goes beyond the issue of rights, reaching a deeper question related to the nature of the industry itself, as this technology raises the possibility of producing entire films without the need for filming sites or traditional work teams, in a shift that may redefine the role of humans in the creative process.
A more dangerous experience
Another Chinese platform has emerged that leads the experience in a more comprehensive way, as “IQIYI” launched a tool called Nadou Pro, which is designed to be an integrated system for film and television production using artificial intelligence, and combines the stages of writing, design, and implementation within one environment, with the ability to transform abstract ideas into ready-made cinematic directions.
The new tool is not limited to producing short clips, but rather aims to address one of the biggest challenges in this field, which is producing long works of professional quality, by integrating the rules of cinematic production within the algorithms themselves, allowing for the construction of a cohesive narrative that approaches the level of live works.
This technology has already entered the practical testing phase, and has been used in producing a number of works across teams within the platform and its partners, covering multiple fields such as science fiction and historical drama, which indicates that the matter is no longer just an experiment, but rather the beginning of an actual shift in the way content is produced.
In light of these developments, the platform seeks to produce an entire film using artificial intelligence that can achieve commercial success, in a step that reflects an ambition that goes beyond the limits of experimentation to redefine the market itself, especially with expectations indicating the possibility of widespread adoption of this technology in the production of films and series in the coming years.
The new development comes within a broader context that indicates China’s progress in the field of artificial intelligence, as other models have been able to achieve rapid global spread, in light of large investments that place this technology at the heart of the economic strategy, which reinforces fears that competition has moved from the level of tools to the level of dominance over the future of the industry.
Creative jobs are at risk
While these tools appear to be an opportunity for small companies to produce work that was not previously possible due to cost, in return, they raise profound questions about the future of creative jobs, especially with their ability to simulate advanced tasks that would have required entire teams of specialists, from photography to directing and effects.
A number of major Hollywood filmmakers have warned of their concerns, as American director and producer Taylor Perry confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter magazine that he halted his studio expansion plans after seeing the capabilities of artificial intelligence tools, warning of their potential impact on jobs within the film industry.
Director Christopher Nolan also warned in press interviews against the uncontrolled expansion of the use of artificial intelligence, considering that the discussion is not only related to technology, but rather to the future of creativity and intellectual property.
Writer and producer Noah Hawley said – in statements reported by IndieWire – that artificial intelligence may be a useful tool, but it cannot replace the human experience that forms the basis of dramatic narrative.
In a technical assessment that reflects the depth of the transformation, Jan Willem Blom from the “Videostate” studio told the BBC that the new models “appear closer to a real cinematic production line,” which reinforces fears of reducing the need for traditional production teams.
David Cook, director of the Tiny Island Productions studio for the same site, also believes that these tools give content makers production capabilities that previously required huge budgets, which may change the nature of the industry.
On the other hand, Roku TV CEO Anthony Wood expects that in the coming years the world will witness the first commercially successful film made entirely with artificial intelligence, an indication that some producers view this technology as an opportunity as much as a threat.
The controversy was not limited to Hollywood, but extended to China itself, where the idea of using images of actors in artificial intelligence systems raised a wave of objections, with fears of losing control over digital identity and the possibility of reusing data outside the scope of control, at a time when experts warn of technical and legal risks that are difficult to contain.
Although artificial intelligence has succeeded in spreading widely in short video platforms, its transition to feature-length cinema still faces challenges related to quality and continuity, as well as a more complex question related to the extent of the audience’s willingness to pay the price of watching works produced by algorithms instead of humans.
