said Terri White, editor-in-chief of film magazine
“Empire.” “The reaction to the likes of the James
Dean news has actually shown that I think most
people don’t really want that.”
For the people behind the Dean project, the
negative reaction is as inevitable as they believe
the eventual acceptance will be. Cloyd foresees
a Hollywood where even living actors have a
“digital twin” that helps in their work.
“This is disruptive technology,” Cloyd said.
“Some people hear it for the first time and they
get shaken by it. But this is where the market
is going.”
The revival of the dead, often done
clumsily, has been happening for much of
Hollywood’s existence.
Footage of Bela Lugosi, combined with a
double holding a cape over his face, was used
in 1959’s “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” released
after the horror star’s death. Bruce Lee’s film
“Game of Death,” left unfinished before his 1973
death, was completed using doubles and voice
overdubs and released five years later. “The Fast
and the Furious” star Paul Walker died in 2013
before shooting was done on “Furious 7.” His two
younger brothers and others acted as stand-ins
so his scenes could be finished.
Even Lennon, and many other dead historical
figures, were digitally revived in 1994 in
“Forrest Gump.”
But the technology of recreation and
resurrection has taken a major leap forward
in quality and prestige, with the extensive de-
aging and re-aging used in Martin Scorsese’s
“The Irishman”; a young Will Smith digitally