The future is now at Warner Bros.
THR is reporting that the studio will begin using Cinelytic, an " AI-driven project management system," to " leverage the system’s comprehensive data and predictive analytics to guide decision-making at the greenlight stage." How much of the decision-making will be left to Cinelytic vs human minds remains to be seen.
The program is said to be very handy at making marketing decisions, selecting the best release date to maximize profits. THR reports that the program could have mitigated some of WB's more recent misfires like The Kitchen, Shaft and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
In the future, a decision on whether to make a Man of Steel sequel or who'll ultimately replace Robert Pattinson as the next Batman could come down to analytics instead of gut instinct. However, if these analytics start producing a string of winners for WB, should anyone really complain? If that happens, every studio in town will likely follow suit.