MOVIE NEWS – As his latest film One Battle After Another moves closer to awards season, Leonardo DiCaprio has been reflecting on the future of cinema. One of the defining actors of his generation, he is speaking out at a moment when artificial intelligence and streaming platforms are reshaping the traditional moviegoing experience.

Speaking to The Times, DiCaprio wondered whether theaters could eventually become cultural “silos,” much like jazz bars did after the 1970s, when rock music dominated the cultural landscape. “It’s changing at lightning speed,” he said of the industry. “We’re in the middle of a massive transition. First, documentaries vanished from cinemas. Now dramas only get a limited theatrical window, because people are willing to wait for streaming.”

Despite his concerns, DiCaprio said he still hopes visionary filmmakers will be given the chance to create bold, original work meant to be experienced on the big screen. “I just hope enough true visionaries are allowed to do unique things in the future that are actually seen in cinemas. But whether that happens remains to be seen.”

These comments follow DiCaprio’s recent remarks to Time magazine, where he argued that AI-generated entertainment can never be authentically considered art. “It can be a powerful tool for a young filmmaker to create something new,” he said. “But anything truly thought of as art has to come from a human being.”

He pointed to viral music mashups as an example: impressive at first, but fleeting. “They’re brilliant for a moment, then they get their fifteen minutes of fame and dissolve into the endless noise of the internet. There’s no anchoring, no humanity to it, no matter how clever it sounds.”

Why Leonardo DiCaprio Will Never Direct

While the future of cinema remains uncertain, DiCaprio has been clear about one thing: he has no intention of becoming a director. He has repeatedly said he will never follow the path of actors who later reinvented themselves behind the camera.

“People have asked me if I want to direct, and I always say no,” he explained. “I could never come close to what Martin Scorsese does. Why would I even try?” At a Time event, he told Scorsese directly that his focus has always been on diving into characters as deeply as possible, even though he would have enjoyed observing the craft from behind the camera.

The duo’s next collaboration will adapt Peter Cameron’s novel What Happens At Night, co-starring Jennifer Lawrence. The film follows a married couple who travel to Europe to adopt a child, only for their journey to take a sinister turn during their stay at an opulent hotel.

Source: MovieWeb