Even though he passed away in 2025, they have used A.I. technology to put Val Kilmer in an upcoming film.

He never actually filmed this movie, and yet here he is.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/ente...8d1107f0c88ff0&ei=30

This is exactly what has the whole acting community quaking in their boots. If AI can bring dead actors back to life, or create actors who never existed at all, who needs live actors that want to be paid? Yes, AI can do it and the answer is Nobody.

Now how it lands with the public is a different matter. I don't like it, especially the resurrection part. It feels creepy, but look at how they used filmed images of people like John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando in commercials a long time ago. It wasn't state of the art AI back then, but it was with Estate approvals.

For Val Kilmer, his family approved this movie. They claim he would have approved it, as he did use a dubbed voice track in "Top Gun Maverick".

Would he have really? Who can say? Is it an Estate cash grab? Who can say?

But it is fair to say that unless there is a big backlash and money is lost, other Estates of even bigger stars are going to consider their options too. Many of these Estates are just run as a businesses by people who had only fleeting relationships with the principle, if even that. Their purpose is to generate cash through royalties and merchandise. An AI version of a deceased actor really is immortality and easy enough to justify for someone's great-great nephew, once removed.

The public should reject the idea, but I fear maybe not. Imaginery friends are already being replaced by Alexa and ChatGPT and parents seem to be OK with it. Wait a few years and see where that ends up.

I have a feeling Marlon Brando would not have approved.

Are there fans who want another John Wayne movie? He died in 1979. I remember when we heard. We were at a cabin in Truckee, CA. My stepdad was a big fan. We all knew Wayne was dying but it was still hard to think of him as gone forever.

That was almost 50 years ago. There are 20 year olds that have never heard of him. In the past few years, I've watched episodes of "Jeopardy" in which none of the contestants could identify photos of James Garner nor Tony Randall. I heard none of them could identify a photo of the Smothers Brothers in an episode just a couple of weeks ago.

What's involved in making an AI movie? Does it take a week to make or five minutes?

I see AI photos of people still aren't real enough looking and the videos of them walking don't look quite right but how long will it take to fix that? Probably not long. AI stuff already looks noticeably better than stuff from a year ago.

All of this is similar to the situation with readers and actual books. It's hard to say with a lot of people reading books on readers and a lot still preferring actual books with some people who tried readers going back to books. I think people will prefer movies with real actors but there will be AI involved/enhanced scenes in everything.

I read someplace about a year ago that the living relatives of James Dean gave permission to someone to use AI to pur him in a new movie and they were going ahead with it. Who in his family is still alive? Maybe some cousins ?

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Are there fans who want another John Wayne movie? He died in 1979.

That was almost 50 years ago. There are 20 year olds that have never heard of him. In the past few years, I've watched episodes of "Jeopardy" in which none of the contestants could identify photos of James Garner nor Tony Randall. I heard none of them could identify a photo of the Smothers Brothers in an episode just a couple of weeks ago.

That's a great point. Fame doesn't last as long as most people think it does. Celebrity icons get a few decades out of it before they are forgotten. Same thing with history and historical figures. The schools don't teach it well anymore and families aren't handing down multi-generational stories like before. Seems like Gen Z thinks they discovered fire.

I don't have much trouble talking to people who are 30 years younger than me and more. I know most of their references in pop culture, at least in broad terms. But when I say something to them that may be about an old event, but I think it is universally known, I am often meant with totally blank stares.

My neighbor was asking me about the Guthrie case the other day and I mentioned the Lindbergh kidnapping, which happened when my grandmother was young. I have always known the story although it occurred way before I was born. She however never heard of Charles Lindbergh, and she is in her 40s. It surprised me because that was one on the great crimes of the 20th century and yet how many people could tell you what happened if you asked them now?

So back on topic, maybe AI zombies won't be so threatening to SAG members because the majority of the paying public can't recognize anyone older than Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney.

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