Lionsgate and Runway, the generative AI research company, announced an expanded partnership on Thursday that involves Lionsgate taking an equity stake in the tech company and launching a joint development program to develop and produce new IP. As part of the expansion, the companies will create AI-generated short episodic series using existing Lionsgate IP.
The companies plan to roll out a full slate of co-developed projects blending AI and content, with the AI shows marking the first to be released. They did not reveal which franchises will be used for these AI series, and while some of the most popular IP in the Lionsgate library includes “John Wick” and “The Hunger Games,” there are thousands of titles that could be mined.
The “preferred partnership” with Runway is “part of Lionsgate’s multifaceted AI strategy under the leadership of Chief AI Officer Kathleen Grace and the studio’s AI Steering Committee,” the studio said in a press release.
“Runway is a great creative partner, an exciting part of our AI strategy and a valuable driver in expanding our storytelling capabilities,” said Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns in a statement. “This is an iterative process. As we continue to expand the use cases of Runway technology across our production operations and introduce its tools to more of our filmmakers, we believe it will help our talent redefine and reshape the art of the possible in their creative endeavors.”
Lionsgate will also serve as a presenting partner at the Runway AI Festival in June as part of this expanded partnership.
“We consistently see that the studios most serious about AI are thinking about it as a creative resource, not a cost-cutting tool,” said Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder and co-CEO of Runway. “Lionsgate gets that. This expanded partnership will help more stories be told, faster. That’s core to our mission at Runway, and we’re excited to help create the next generation of iconic content.”
Lionsgate was the first major studio to partner with an AI company when it teamed with Runway in 2024, but as TheWrap exclusively reported last year, the partnership ran into some limitations when it came to generating AI films.
Now, with the announcement of these IP-driven short series, we’ll see what Lionsgate and Runway have come up with.
A timetable for when the series would be released was not given.
