Reese Witherspoon Says Hollywood Will ‘Change Radically’ to Adapt to ‘Shifting’ Attention Spans: ‘Kids Don’t Go to the Movies’

With artificial intelligence looming over multiple creative industries, actress Reese Witherspoon believes that filmmaking will change drastically in the near future as Hollywood adapts to new viewing habits.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Witherspoon spoke about how her two children’s attention span for films differed from her generation’s. She said this points to where Hollywood is heading.

“I noticed my kids weren’t going to the movies,” Witherspoon says. “I had teenage kids. I went to the movies every Friday and Saturday night. Kids don’t go to the movies. Usually, people are seeing one movie a year in the theaters with their kids. You’ve got to go where the audience is, not lament the fact that they didn’t show up or have what I call ‘old-school-itis,’ which is like, Well, in my day. Well, it just doesn’t work that way! Attention spans are shifting. The way we make movies is going to change radically in the next two to three years.”

After the interviewer asked if the cognitive shift was due to the recent rise of artificial intelligence, Witherspoon agreed, elaborating on how she viewed the recent growth of the technology. “Everybody knows it. You just have to understand how it’s going to happen. Because we still have to layer our consciousness on top of it, and use it as tools. Otherwise it’s just a runaway train.”

Witherspoon also touched on the founding of her latest company, Sunnie, which focuses on creating digital magazines for young Gen Z women. Witherspoon spoke about being a creator for the company and the shifting economics of working in entertainment. “You have to be pragmatic when you have a company like mine, because time is your biggest asset. You can’t waste time on things you can’t get made.”