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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saw interview where Sebastian Stan said he'd be "honored" if someone digitally recreated him after death. Easy to say when you're young, healthy, and alive. Wonder if he'd feel same way seeing his likeness advertising products he morally opposes 30 years post-mortem

Legally fascinating territory. US copyright law grants rights for 70 years after creator's death. Studios racing to secure likeness rights knowing they'll eventually expire and become public domain. Capitalism finding ways to monetize actual human identities

Unpopular opinion: I absolutely want future filmmakers using my digital likeness after death! Immortality through art! Imagine being able to "perform" in films 200 years from now! What actor wouldn't want that legacy??

Japanese already way ahead with entirely fictional digital celebrities like Hatsune Miku performing "live" in concerts. Western obsession with recreating dead celebs rather than creating new digital personas says everything about our lack of creativity