Bruce Willis retired from the cinema a few months ago due to health problems, but that will not prevent him from continuing to appear in future films and projects. The solution is called Artificial intelligence. Through deepfakes, the actor will be able to continue showing himself without having to act for the occasion. Because what to date was a sporadic use of this technology, Bruce Willis is going to make it his future.
The first actor to sell his image rights for AI. It is a pioneering movement in Hollywood. Bruce Willis has become the first actor to have sold his image rights so that his face can be recreated in movies and other projects through artificial intelligence.
However, Bruce Willis already had experience with the use of deepfakes. Last year he participated with the digital twins company for the creation of an advertisement for the Russian company MegaFon. It seems that this was successful, because the actor has decided to go one step further.
A digital Bruce Willis based on 34,000 fragments. For the creation of the digital twin, the company Deepfake.io explains that thousands of fragments of films such as “Jungla de Cristal” or “El Quinto Element” were used. In total, the AI was trained for 14 days, although the company explains that it is possible to create a complete deepfake in about 4 or 5 days.
“I liked how accurately my character turned out. It’s a mini-movie in my usual action-comedy genre. For me, it’s a great opportunity to go back in time. With the advent of modern technology, even being on another continent I was able to communicate, work and participate in the shoot. It’s a very new and interesting experience, and I thank our entire team,” explains Willis.
The big franchises do not want to risk running out of the actor. When Brandon Lee died during the filming of ‘The Raven’, his scenes had to be finished with CGI. Complementing the actors’ problems with technology is not something new and Hollywood has been doing it for decades.
The use is so widespread that big franchises like Star Wars do not contemplate anything else. The actors are digitally copied in case they want to use them in future series or movies. It has also happened with franchise actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jim Carrey. The novelty with Bruce Willis is that he has sold his rights directly to the deepfake company, allowing his image to be used beyond the sagas in which he had previously appeared.
A very interesting option for retiring actors. Work until you can live on income. Manage to create a recognizable image throughout the world so that later an AI can do the job. This option is not a utopia and we are already seeing it as a feasible option in the world of cinema. Recently James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader since 1977, has announced that he will stop collaborating with future Star Wars movies and his mythical voice will be replaced by an AI. He is already 91 years old.
With Bruce Willis something similar happens. It is not because they trust in the enormous potential of artificial intelligence, but because for various reasons they are no longer physically able to act directly. In this context, AI is presented as a very beneficial alternative for all. For the actors who get some extra profit and for the Hollywood studios, who will be able to continue to take advantage of the talent and charisma of these actors. Because the latter is something that AI still cannot replace.