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XP

XP March 17, 2025, 7:59 p.m.

That Peter Cushing CGI in Rogue One still haunts me - are we okay with bringing dead actors back?

Just rewatched Rogue One and that digital Peter Cushing still feels so wrong to me. I know his estate approved it but the man died in 1994 and definitely never consented to appearing in a Star Wars film 22 years after his death.

Then Disney did it again with Carrie Fisher in Rise of Skywalker, and now apparently James Dean is getting digitally cast in some Vietnam war film despite being dead for 65+ years?? The tech is getting better but something about it gives me the creeps.

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable with studios basically puppeteering dead celebrities, or am I overthinking this? Where's the line between respectful tribute and digital grave robbing?

V777OR

V777OR March 17, 2025, 11:02 p.m.

Worked on VFX team for major studio (not Disney). What public doesn't realize: actors increasingly forced to sign "digital likeness rights" into standard contracts. Many don't even realize they're giving studios permission to recreate them forever. Industry's dirty secret

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morfi

morfi March 18, 2025, 1:58 p.m.

Cushing's recreation at least made narrative sense - established character from previous films. But James Dean in random Vietnam movie?? Pure gimmick. He never even lived through Vietnam war! Casting purely for publicity. Shameless cash grab

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Arti1991

Arti1991 March 18, 2025, 11:15 p.m.

my grandma thought peter cushing was still alive when watching rogue one. didn't realize he'd been dead 20+ years. when tech gets good enough to completely fool viewers, we've got serious ethical problems ahead. authenticity of performance matters

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windowsn

windowsn March 19, 2025, 5:34 p.m.

Paul Walker situation different imo. Furious 7 was mid-production, they used his brothers as body doubles + minimal cgi to finish his storyline respectfully. That's honoring legacy vs disney just straight recreating cushing/fisher to avoid recasting

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exel

exel March 20, 2025, 9:07 p.m.

the Harold Ramis Egon Spengler CGI in Ghostbusters: frozen empire literally made me cry. His family heavily involved in decisions. Felt like genuine tribute not exploitation. Context and intent matter enormously

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msstrong123

msstrong123 March 21, 2025, 7:15 p.m.

Inevitable result of treating actors as products rather than artists. Studios already use CGI to make living actors thinner, younger, more attractive without permission. Death just removes final barrier of consent

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SLAX

SLAX March 22, 2025, 12:09 a.m.

Former agent here. Major studio contracts now include "digital alteration" clauses as standard. Client of mine discovered they'd digitally slimmed her for entire film without telling her. Not even decency to ask first. Was already industry standard practice by 2018

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partshop

partshop March 23, 2025, 4:19 p.m.

Anybody remember how they put Audrey Hepburn in that galaxy chocolate commercial? She'd been dead 20+ years and suddenly she's selling candy? Her sons approved it but whole thing felt incredibly tacky. Precedent started way before star wars

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hooo

hooo March 24, 2025, noon

The volumetric performance capture technology used for these recreations fundamentally differs from traditional CGI. Rather than artists manually recreating movements, AI systems now analyze thousands of hours of footage to synthesize entirely new performances that never existed

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voxe

voxe March 25, 2025, 2:42 a.m.

reminder: studios tried getting james dean digital recreation into "finding jack" vietnam film but backlash was so severe they canceled it. public pressure WORKS against most egregious examples when we speak up collectively

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