Social media users call it «digital necromancy».
Be careful! Spoilers ahead.
In the new film of the «Alien» franchise, the audience saw an unexpected character. About a third of the way through the movie «Alien: Romulus» a synthetic (android) appears with the appearance of the late actor Ian Holm. This decision sparked lively discussions on social media, as users questioned the ethics of such a step.
I won’t be seeing the movie because of this. This is theft of someones face for a shitty audience moment. Ian Holm is dead, he cannot consent to this. People in the replies to op are complaining about spoilers? Cry about it. Vote with your wallet if you think it’s okay to do this https://t.co/PVA0gOC8TO pic.twitter.com/RGHnNKXOHi
— KatieΩ🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇵🇸 (@Takoberu2002) August 16, 2024
Ian Holm, known for his roles in «Chariots of Fire», «Brazil», and «The Sweet Future», died in 2020 at the age of 88. In the original 1979 «Alien», he played Ash — a secretive synthetic with ulterior motives. Now, his face and voice have been recreated for a new character named Rook.
Director «Alien: Romulus» director Federico Alvarez explains his decision:
«We didn’t try to do the impossible — to recreate this person’s acting talent. This is a different character. The only thing they have in common is their appearance».
Alvarez says that the team first created an animatronic model and later added CGI effects for mouth and eye movements. The choice of Ian Holm’s appearance was due to the fact that his character did not appear in the franchise after the original film.
Before realizing the idea, the director obtained the consent of Holm’s widow, Sophie de Stempel, and producer Ridley Scott. According to Alvarez, the actor’s family approved the idea:
«Ian’s widow thinks he would like the idea of being part of the franchise again».
To create Ruk, we used animatronics with Holm’s face, controlled by puppeteers. British actor Daniel Betts recorded facial movements and voiced the character. Then, using AI, his voice was changed to sound like Holm’s.
Alvarez emphasizes that the use of AI to create The Hand — is a unique case for this movie and the franchise. He does not believe that artificial intelligence will be able to replace actors in the near future.
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