Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:33 pm**

For some reason a strange idea came to mind.

Imagine if one day a technology was developed which would permit realtime communication with another dimension and said dimension was that of the afterlife. And suppose John Wayne (or any dearly departed actor) was given the opportunity to resume his career and act in a new film through a computer generated avatar.

I can't imagine what the studio contract would look like and what compensation package would consist of.

But it would be interesting and unquestionably entertaining.

Posted: **Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:21 pm**

Erm...
Is the tale of High Lord Kevin's return from beyond the grave germane here?

Posted: **Tue Dec 05, 2017 9:46 pm**

Posted: **Tue Dec 05, 2017 11:26 pm**

Think of the heirs of every famous actor from now on having to control their image rights after death and decide who can recreate them digitally to star in new films. It's only going to get easier to do. The future is going to be weird.

...Wait, I just thought of the other version of this: living actors licensing their digitally reconstructed selves to star in films that they don't ever have to actually do any work on.

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:39 am**

I'm Murrin wrote:The future is going to be weird.

No kidding. With, good example, a Star Wars character - if Disney owns the character (and the appearance of the character) - who decides how much (if anything) is owed to the actor or the actor's estate?

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:43 am**

The year 1997 saw the beginnings of the idea for a film called Gemini Man, which would center around an aging assassin forced to face off with a clone of the 25-year-old version of himself. The idea was exciting to film studios, but technology wasn't there to support a project starring one actor playing both old and young versions of himself. So while technology continued to evolve, the script underwent several makeovers, with actors like Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, and Harrison Ford considered for the film.

Happily, the film's time has finally come. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skydance Media decided we officially have the technology to create a film where one actor believably plays the embattled younger and older version of himself, and they picked up the film in October.

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:24 am**

Exactly WF.

I'm Murrin wrote:...Wait, I just thought of the other version of this: living actors licensing their digitally reconstructed selves to star in films that they don't ever have to actually do any work on.

Wow, can't decide if brilliant or cop-out.

--A

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:40 am**

wayfriend wrote:

But Peter Cushing himself didn't have anything to do with....oh nevermind. I guess I was a little too bored when I thought up this thread. On to current events...

Yes. Its A very controversial situation in Hollywood. If they can generate a new performance from Carrie Fisher or Peter Cushing what's to stop them from grave robbing any deceased actor they want.

On the other hand the deceased actors don't give a crap.

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:34 pm**

aTOMiC wrote:But Peter Cushing himself didn't have anything to do with....

... or did he?

aTOMiC wrote:what's to stop them from grave robbing any deceased actor they want.

What's to stop them from making movies without any real actors at all?

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 10:14 pm**

There's bound to be a whole quarrel of lawyers hard at work on the whole subject. At what point does someone's image become public domain?

I'm picturing actors losing roles to images of their younger selves as they age. There's probably a movie idea in there somewhere.

Posted: **Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:38 pm**

I understood your initial post, Tom, it just sparked something interesting from the real world instead.

Anyone watch Bojack Horseman? In one of the seasons, he pretty much abandoned a film he was starring in near the end of the shoot. He comes back to find that not only did they finish the film with a digital reconstruction of him, they liked it so much they went back and replaced him in all the scenes he'd already filmed. Everyone loves his performance in the film, but it's not really him. (Warning if you've not seen it: Bojack is one of the most depressing comedies you'll ever watch. It's also consistently brilliant.)

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:31 am**

Never really managed to get into it...maybe I should try again.

Nice movie idea Sorus.

--A

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:13 pm**

aTOMiC wrote: Yes. Its A very controversial situation in Hollywood. If they can generate a new performance from Carrie Fisher or Peter Cushing what's to stop them from grave robbing any deceased actor they want.

On the other hand the deceased actors don't give a crap.

But there are family members who would step in.
And some of those actors may have setup trusts that preform certain functions.

Posted: **Tue Jan 02, 2018 3:10 am**

It seems to me that once CGI gets to the point that actors can be digitally created to be indistinguishable from real humans, the age of the massively overpaid and difficult to manage superstar of screen will be over; companies will simply create 'actors' that will run from film to film to give continuity, but who will have no real world existence ......unless of course advanced robotics and AI decide to instantiate (word pinched from V. there

) them in order to supply the tittle tattle pages with salacious tales of android bed hopping. Gives a new slant to curling up with a dish of chips.

Posted: **Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:35 pm**

peter, I think first we shall see a time where the acting is CGI but the actors are real. "Name recognition" is still a factor in Hollywood, and I can't quite yet see a huge fan following for anything except real actors at this time. And actors don't just act in movies, they promote movies, they attend premieres, they are "seen", etc. This social angle will tie movies to real actors for some time to come, even while all their performances are CGI-enhanced or CGI-entire.

Posted: **Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:51 am**

Agree that will probably be the case in the interim, but eventually I think Peter's idea will probably become the future.

--A

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2018 12:43 pm**

I'm Murrin wrote:Think of the heirs of every famous actor from now on having to control their image rights after death and decide who can recreate them digitally to star in new films. It's only going to get easier to do. The future is going to be weird.

...Wait, I just thought of the other version of this: living actors licensing their digitally reconstructed selves to star in films that they don't ever have to actually do any work on.

Who does own the images? The actor or the holders of the film rights?

If they used a digitized John Wayne from True Grit for a new story, from whom would a movie maker have to buy the rights? After copyright ends, I would guess it would be easier, but that is, I believe, 70 years after the death of the author.

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2018 3:40 pm**

Damelon wrote:Who does own the images?

Whomever has the most money, of course.

Posted: **Sun May 13, 2018 4:15 am**

In an aside, I once speculated that it would be fantastic to see "Jimmy Hendrix" go on tour again via the magic of hologram, lighting, film/video imagery and such virtual magic as can be coopted to add to the spectacle of the event. Though it hasn't happened as yet I'm interested to hear that ABBA are to produce a show that will tour in the near future that will utilize just these techniques rather than having the somewhat aging stars actually doing the footwork themselves. I really think the idea has legs and will allow future generations to enjoy the thrill of experiencing acts they were not fortunate enough to be around for first time round.

Posted: **Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:38 pm**

wayfriend wrote:
The year 1997 saw the beginnings of the idea for a film called Gemini Man, which would center around an aging assassin forced to face off with a clone of the 25-year-old version of himself. The idea was exciting to film studios, but technology wasn't there to support a project starring one actor playing both old and young versions of himself. So while technology continued to evolve, the script underwent several makeovers, with actors like Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, and Harrison Ford considered for the film.

Happily, the film's time has finally come. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skydance Media decided we officially have the technology to create a film where one actor believably plays the embattled younger and older version of himself, and they picked up the film in October.

You can watch Will Smith punch himself in the face: the trailer is out.

Kevin's Watch

Dead Actors reprising their roles from beyond the grave

Dead Actors reprising their roles from beyond the grave