Mapping Scientific Literature on Artificial Intelligence in Film Screenwriting and Creative Development: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract This study maps scientific literature examining how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in the film industry, paying particular attention to screenwriting, narrative construction, and creative development. Driven by the rapid expansion of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), this inquiry addresses a fundamental shift in AI's role from a technical tool for production and post-production workflows to an active participant in ideation, plot development, character construction, dialogue generation, and script revision. Utilizing a bibliometric approach, this paper systematically examines the growth, internal structure, dominant themes, and emerging research concerns within this evolving field. Data was retrieved from four primary scientific databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions, and Lens. Following a rigorous protocol of merging, standardizing, and screening against predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, an initial pool of 1, 186 raw records was refined to a final working sample of 299 records spanning 22 years (2004–2026). Within this corpus, 78. 3% (234 records) focus directly on AI in screenwriting, narrative, or creative development, while the remaining 21. 7% (65 records) address AI applications within the broader film, screen media, or audiovisual production environment. The findings reveal a sharp exponential increase in scholarly attention after 2023, with 2025 representing the peak publication year (n = 110) in the dataset. Notably, the results indicate that screenwriting, narrative, and creative authorship do not occupy a marginal status within AI-and-film scholarship but instead constitute central areas of academic inquiry. Thematic analysis demonstrates strong, sustained engagement with generative AI, LLMs, human–AI co-creativity, authorship, intellectual property, originality, and the changing professional role of the writer. Furthermore, network analysis identifies three major interconnected keyword clusters: (1) creative AI and narrative generation, (2) film production and computational methods, and (3) ethics and authorship. This study concludes that AI-assisted screenwriting represents far more than a simple technical innovation; it marks a profound cultural, creative, legal, and professional transformation that is fundamentally reshaping the relationship between the writer, the text, the machine, and the surrounding film industry.