Sandra Bullock appeared at CinemaCon last week to hype Practical Magic 2. This will be her first big promotional tour since 2022, which is when she was out and about for The Lost City (with Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe). In 2023, her partner Bryan Randall passed away after a battle with ALS. Sandy stopped working for several years, just focusing on healing and her children. A source recently told People Mag that: “After everything she went through with Bryan, she needed time to care for herself. She spent a lot of time healing, being with her kids and being at home. She needed to ensure that she and her kids were in the best possible place for her to go back to work.” She did what she needed to do and she absolutely has the support of everyone in Hollywood. While she was away, a lot happened in Hollywood though, and Hollywood is still reckoning with all of this AI bullsh-t. Well, Sandra Bullock is apparently pro-AI. She spoke about it the CNBC Changemakers Summit:
Sandra Bullock appeared at the CNBC Changemakers Summit alongside Warner Bros. Pictures co-chair and CEO Pam Abdy and was asked about the intersection of Hollywood and AI. The Oscar winner said the industry needs to lean into it.
The topic of AI came up when moderator Julia Boorstin noted all the AI-generated fan trailers that have been circulating for “Practical Magic 2,” which Bullock stars in and produces for Abdy’s Warner Bros. The movie is set to open in theaters this fall.
“I know it’s not great, but it’s also exciting, because that means that there’s a desire for it and that means that people want to come and play with the movie. And that’s exciting,” Abdy said about the AI trailers.
When asked if it’s “weird” to see people using AI to recreate her image, Bullock quipped: “Well, there could be worse [things] with my image!” She then said on a more serious note: “But it’s here. We have to observe it. We have to understand it. We have to lean into it. We have to use it in a really constructive and creative way, make it our friend rather than — I mean, we have to be incredibly cautious and aware of it because there are people who will use it for evil and not good. But I do feel that there’s a place for it… It’s here. We have to just be friends in some dark way.”
They’re comparing Bullock’s comments to Reese Witherspoon’s recent rah-rah-AI-girlboss comments. Reese’s comments came off as tone-deaf and likely part of some undercover spon-con or business opportunity for her. Sandra sounds more wary of AI. I also think that for someone like Sandra, who is 61 years old, she’s probably like “hey, this isn’t my generation’s problem.” Like, let the youths figure out this f–king AI mess. Between Sandra and Reese’s comments, some have suggested that some AI company possibly held a luncheon or some kind of investment presentation for Hollywood women. That seems very likely too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty Images.
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- Sandra Bullock attends a UK Special Screening of ‘The Lost City’ at Cineworld, Leicester Square, London, England, UK on Thursday 31 March, 2022.,Image: 674271225, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/Retna/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Sandra Bullock attends ‘The Lost City’ – UK Special Screening, at Cineworld, Leicester Square in London, England. Thursday 31st March 2022. -,Image: 674358181, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: ‘The Lost City’ – UK Special Screening, Credit line: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon
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- Sandra Bullock on the red carpet for the The Lost City UK Film Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in West End, London, United Kingdom.,Image: 681029526, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: To licence this image, email info@sidetrack.london for more information., Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
People keep talking about AI like it’s an alien that landed from another planet – make it our friend – instead of a human-built system that humans will exploit.
🎯
Both of them are heavily invested in AI companies (Reese specifically is an investor in an AI firm that has recently been having major issues with funding)- THAT’S why they are talking about it. Reese’s video was an undisclosed ad – which violated FCC law. So yeah…when you suddenly hear famous people speaking positively about AI…follow the money.
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💯 this ^^^^^^^^
OpenAI recently hired Charles Porch away from Instagram to leverage his celebrity biz/social relationships and try to make AI as culturally relevant as Insta is (was?). Google him and you’ll see, or check out his post about joining Open AI on Insta (https://www.instagram.com/p/DU6K2tnkQKx) — the comments are littered with celebrities congratulating him and cheering him on.
So many of the celebs I grew up watching in the 80s & 90s are just moguls at this point… and yet they started out as scrappy artists so it’s easy to see them more as “just like us”. But I can’t express enough what the last 20 years of personal brand culture has done to actors and musicians. Clooney. Pitt. Affleck. Damon. Bullock. Jackman. Reynolds. They’ve been rolling in billionaire circles for decades at this point and might as well live on a different planet from us. They are not our friends… like most in the billionaire class, they see us as resources to extract. Don’t be fooled by how many book clubs they host or all the SponCon dressed up as female empowerment (I’m looking at you, Reese & Oprah).
Crypto and AI have really separated the artists from the tech bros (all genders ) of Hollywood. It’s been illuminating… and utterly gross.
So Reese and Sandra are now…. star search spokesmodels?
Paid to endorse.
I now dislike them both.
But I’m sure it’s nice when the checks clear.
And they’ll never have to worry about lack of clean drinking water due to ai data centers.
Those go in poor areas!
Et, tu, Sandra?
Our tech overlords must be getting desperate. They’re pulling out their last cards, funding A-list celebrities to shill for AI.
I got the same feeling as you that AI had some type of promotional event with Hollywood folks. All I can think of is rich people wanting to get paid for their image being used without actually having to work.
People like Sandra and Reese have been around long enough that there’s plenty of footage of them that can be used in AI.
After working with AI it has completely calmed my fears about it. It is a tool, nothing more. It needs to be used by a human. It has zero creativity and cannot think outside of the box or problem solve like a human can. It’s a powerful tool, for sure. But it’s just a tool. It will give you instructions on how to build a bridge to go over an obstacle but it isn’t creative enough to look at that obstacle and see a different path around it. I’m not saying anything about the environmental aspect just about the replacing humans aspect. It will take some jobs, yes, but it won’t wipe out all jobs. Like what electricity did to candle makers or cars to horses, it’s progress. It’s very smart but also incredibly dumb.
It’s not environmentally sustainable, though.