Current Events > The Director of CGI James Dean Movie Is Surprised That People Are Upset

(+) Yeah! (+)

"We never intended for this to be a marketing gimmick."

Last week, news broke that James Dean will star in a new movie64 years after his death. A production company called Magic City got the rights to Dean's image from the late actor's estate and plans to bring him to the silver screen again thanks to the wonder (or terror) of CGI. Now, Dean, or the digitally resurrected version of Dean or whatever, will play the second lead in a Vietnam War movie called Finding Jack, with a living actor standing in as his voice.

Unsurprisingly, the announcement inspired a wave of immediate backlash around Hollywood. Chris Evans called it "awful" and "shameful," and Elijah Wood said, simply, "NOPE." But it turns out the intense reaction was surprising to at least one person: Magic City's Anton Ernst, the Finding Jack director.

Ernst told the Hollywood Reporter in a new interview that he's gotten "positive feedback" about the movie and that the Dean estate has been "supportive," saying it will inspire "a whole new generation of filmgoers to be aware of James Dean." He didn't see the overwhelming negativity coming.

Ernst spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the criticisms on social media, saying he was "saddened" and "confused" over the overwhelmingly negative comments. "We don't really understand it. We never intended for this to be a marketing gimmick," he said.

He also brought up Carrie Fisher's appearance in the new Star Wars as an example of a way this posthumous CGI work can be done well, apparently missing the difference between honoring Fisher's legacy in a role she was already scheduled to play and plopping James Dean in some random war movie half a century after his death.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bjw4nm/the-director-of-cgi-james-dean-movie-is-surprised-that-people-are-upset

https://mobile.twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/1192952743423397888

https://entertainment.theonion.com/no-god-no-screams-agonized-james-dean-disappearing-1839700927
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Yeah, no. This is gross and it's disappointing that they can't see why.

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I feel like you'd have to be a sociopath to not understand why people would have a negative reaction to this. Like, is the thing inside your head capable of empathy at all?
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"We never intended for this to be a marketing gimmick."

Yes you did.

This shit is like those holograms of dead musical artists. It's a giant cash in. If they wanted to reintroduce James Dean to a new generation, then promote all his old movies on Twitter and stuff.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

I feel like you'd have to be a sociopath to not understand why people would have a negative reaction to this.

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Yeah, that's not creepy at all.

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https://youtu.be/GlwDE8UyUzQ
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BathroomWater posted...

He also brought up Carrie Fisher's appearance in the new Star Wars as an example of a way this posthumous CGI work can be done well, apparently missing the difference between honoring Fisher's legacy in a role she was already scheduled to play and plopping James Dean in some random war movie half a century after his death.

This guy's a fucking assclown however it really was only a matter of time until directors felt tempted to really push the technology for unethical means.
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Jagr_68 posted...

This guy's a fucking assclown however it really was only a matter of time until directors felt tempted to really push the technology for unethical means.

I mean, they already have. They did it for Star Wars Rogue One with Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin). What this abomination was meant to be seems like a full feature length version of those 5 - 10 minutes of screen time in that movie.
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Ranlom posted...

https://youtu.be/GlwDE8UyUzQ

haha
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Solar_Crimson posted...

Yeah, that's not creepy at all.

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It's one thing to have dead celebrities reprise legendary roles as a tribute. It's another to cast them as a new character that they never performed just so you can make more money while pretending like you are honoring their acting skills.
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Dean starred in three major films
Giant, East of Eden, and Rebel Without a Cause
i've only seen the last one and it's great
directed by Nicholas Ray one of the masters of the golden age of hollywood

if they really wanted younger people to be more aware of James Dean they could have set up showings of his films in various major cities

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BathroomWater posted...

"We never intended for this to be a marketing gimmick."

Lol
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ThePrinceFish posted...

It's one thing to have dead celebrities reprise legendary roles as a tribute

I really don't think so. Like, it's less sleazy than what was (and hopefully is no longer) intended with Dean's image in this dumb film, and while I'd say significantly so, I still find the usage of deceased actors' likeness over a CGI puppet to reprise a role they previously held distasteful. You're adding nothing to the actor's lifetime achievement and the most value you got for your product is "no change of actors to confuse people", which seems like it should be a miniscule consideration that is probably a cover up for "people like X so we make more money by putting X in the movie".
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DeadBankerDream posted...

ThePrinceFish posted...

It's one thing to have dead celebrities reprise legendary roles as a tribute

I really don't think so. Like, it's less sleazy than what was (and hopefully is no longer) intended with Dean's image in this dumb film, and while I'd say significantly so, I still find the usage of deceased actors' likeness over a CGI puppet to reprise a role they previously held distasteful. You're adding nothing to the actor's lifetime achievement and the most value you got for your product is "no change of actors to confuse people", which seems like it should be a miniscule consideration that is probably a cover up for "people like X so we make more money by putting X in the movie".

I didnt realize Peter Cushing had disdain for the Tarkin role.

As for your hopefully no longer, apparently they are going in the opposite direction:

Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, and More Could Be Next Digital Humans After CGI James Dean

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/worldwide-xr-james-dean-jimmy-stewart-digital-humans-1202188978/
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I predict a future movie star that doesn't even exist.

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