Michael Burns, the vice chairman of film giant Lionsgate, spoke about the company’s vision for AI and its potential for anime production following Lionsgate’s partnership with tech company Runway.
With a library including titles like John Wick and The Hunger Games, Burns said Runway’s AI could take one of Lionsgate’s signature live-action action franchises and ‘repackage it,’ as New York Magazine (NYMag) frames in its interview with Burns, adjusting ‘tone, format, and rating‘ for a softer cut, and, as Burns says, “Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie.” Burns added, “I can do that, and now I can resell it.“
NYMag reports that AI use is happening in secret within the American animation industry, with human animators being used to launder AI artwork. Lionsgate would be among the largest overseas entertainment companies to adopt AI use in anime, with the polarizing debate raging online more so stemming from its growing use in Japan.
American anime streaming giant Crunchyroll, which sources all its titles from Japan, has ruled out AI in its anime production. Meanwhile, Netflix is open to the technology, creating The Dog & the Boy in 2023 in collaboration with Japanese companies rinna Inc. and WIT Studio, leveraging AI for the background artwork. Former Netflix chief of anime and CEO of Salamander Pictures, Taiki Sakurai, produced the anime short, and told Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2023 that AI can be used to lower budgets, staff numbers, and breakeven points amid staff shortages, and, unlike overseas, Japan was yet to break away from individual craftsmanship.
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Major Japanese anime production studios Toei Animation and OLM Digital, OLM’s CG and R&D subsidiary, are also working with AI. The former garnered 10 major anime studios have agreed to test its AI findings in their productions.
In April, Lionsgate presented more details on John Wick‘s first animated production. 87Eleven’s Chad Stahelski is attached to produce the film, having most recently worked on Lazarus as an action supervisor. As reported by IGN, Stahelski said at CinemaCon about the John Wick animated entry, “I’ve always been fascinated with anime. It has always been a huge influence on me, especially with the John Wick series. To have the opportunity to develop a John Wick anime seems to be the perfect progression for the John Wick world. I feel John Wick is the perfect property for this medium — anime holds the potential to expand our world, our characters, and our action in ways unimaginable before.“
Source: New York Magazine (Vulture)
Featured image © Yuto Suzuki/SHUEISHA © 2025 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.
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