James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama

[Kablooie]

James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at the age of 24, is making an unexpected return to the big screen. The cultural icon, known for Rebel Without a Cause and East of Eden, has been posthumously cast in the Vietnam era action-drama Finding Jack.

Directed by Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh, the project comes from the filmmakers' own recently launched production house Magic City Films, which obtained the rights to use Dean’s image from his family. Canadian VFX banner Imagine Engine will be working alongside South African VFX company MOI Worldwide to re-create what the filmmakers describe as “a realistic version of James Dean.”
....
"We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean," said Ernst, who also produces with Golykh for Magic City Films alongside Donald A. Barton of Artistry Media Group.

"We feel very honored that his family supports us and will take every precaution to ensure that his legacy as one of the most epic film stars to date is kept firmly intact. The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down."
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"This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us," said Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, which represents Dean’s family alongside more than 1,700 entertainment, sports, music and historical personalities, including the likes of Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Ingrid Bergman, Neil Armstrong, Bette Davis and Jack Lemmon.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-james-dean-reborn-cgi-vietnam-war-action-drama-1252703
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Umm... Dean was an intense method actor. Who's going to digitize his process for building a character?

Most popular actors are not popular just for their looks. It's their personality and their ability to create characters and personas that are believable and resonate with audiences. To puppet around something that looks and sounds like an actor without their living essence behind it is going to create an unsettling golem, not the popular performer that the filmmakers expect.

[malthaussen]

2. Shadow over substance.

If this film ever gets made -- we'll see -- I imagine the CGI Dean's performance will be something along the lines of GIGO. But the nerds won't care, because it will be technologically "cool."

-- Mal

[Archae]

3. This sounds like a PR stunt.

For a marginal (at best) movie.

Movie producers are notorious for doing this at times.

"The movie we're making is a full load of shit, how can we get more money from it?"

"Let's throw in something controversial, like gratuitous sex and/or violence, and the nutcases who never go to see the movie will raise a stink!"

At least Peter Cushing in that Star Wars prequel recently was actually part of the storyline.

(Besides, I think James Dean was rather hammy.)