It seems that James Dean’s big screen resurrrection is just the beginning.
Last week we reported on the rather alarming news that long-deceased screen legend James Dean is set to be digitally reincarnated for a Vietnam movie by the name of Finding Jack. We covered the same topic in our weekly YouTube episode too. Predictably, there was something of an outcry to this revelation, with members of the Hollywood community such as Chris Evans using social media to voice their disdain.
It seems though, that the digital resurrection of the Rebel Without a Cause star, who famously died in an auto accident in 1955, is just the beginning.
Variety is reporting that a new company named Worldwide XR, an alliance of an ‘intellectual property licensing’ business named CMG Worldwide and an ‘immersive content studio’ called Observe Media, is announcing that it has both the rights and the technology to bring over 400 actors and celebrities back from beyond the grave.
Among the list of actors named by Worldwide XR are James Stewart, Hollywood leading man of the 1950s, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve. Whilst CGI characters featuring deceased actors have appeared in films before, it’s so far been in productions with which they at least have some sort of link, implying a consent of sorts, such as Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or Orson Welles in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Worldwide XR CEO Travis Cloyd has admitted that the idea is ‘disruptive’ and not universally beloved. He has also expressed his preference that the actors and celebrities whose likenesses are owned by Worldwide XR feature in virtual reality where the experience is more immersive but has promised to carefully vet any movie appearances to respect the deceased actors’ legacies.
This story won’t, it seems, be going away anytime soon. More as we have it.
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