George Lucas to Resurrect Dead Movie Stars? 296
According to his director friend Mel Smith, George Lucas has a plan for upcoming movies more insidious than a whole Gungan cast. Smith says Lucas is buying the rights to old movies in order to put dead actors in his films. He says, "George has been buying up the film rights to dead actors in the hope of using computer trickery to put them all together, so you'd have Orson Welles and Barbara Stanwyck alongside today's stars." Even if Smith is lying, it makes you wonder who long it will be until Hollywood starts to recycle actors as well as scripts.
At least this will prove zombies don't exist (Score:5, Funny)
If Orson Welles doesn't crawl out of his grave and strangle this arrogant, money-grubbing motherfucker with his own intestines, then at least we finally know that the dead are *truly* and *forever* gone.
Re:At least this will prove zombies don't exist (Score:5, Insightful)
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Hey, why not. He already did it to Harrison Ford's corpse.
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Oh, wait.
Re:At least this will prove zombies don't exist (Score:4, Informative)
It was done [wikipedia.org] many years ago....by Steve Martin.
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Since he and his buddy Steve have already raped Indiana Jones this isn't much of a stretch.
George Lucas has the worst case of malignant narcissism imaginable - his family needs to stage an intervention for him.
Re:At least this will prove zombies don't exist (Score:4, Interesting)
No, all the nerds who complain about him should STOP PAYING HIM MONEY. Then he'll stop. People say the Star Wars prequels suck, but they still gave George money to see them. So he stays in business and keeps recycling the same few ideas he had 30 years ago. I saw the SW prequels on second hand DVDs I got for 50 cents a year after they came out. Which was a fair price; and I'm happy George didn't see a cent of it.
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The worst thing isn't one man's ideas.
The worst thing would be if the movie industry starts to move into an extreme recycling of actors and historic figures instead of adding new actors. But the movie industry is already biting it's own tail by recycling scripts that once were good at the time instead of finding new stories that haven't been filmed yet.
So I would say that if they are going to just work on recycling they will soon die.
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The worst thing isn't one man's ideas.
The worst thing would be if the movie industry starts to move into an extreme recycling of actors and historic figures instead of adding new actors. But the movie industry is already biting it's own tail by recycling scripts that once were good at the time instead of finding new stories that haven't been filmed yet.
So I would say that if they are going to just work on recycling they will soon die.
Well, it's really just Hollywood and Bollywood that are doing that. That is why the rest of the world-wide film industry is starting to flourish while Hollywood slowly dies. Face it. People around the world don't give a shit about American movies like they used to. And people like George Lucas are the reason why.
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Well, they could go one step more...get the new actors, copy them, kill them, and then not have to pay anyone for them...
Hmm, that [wikipedia.org] might make for an interesting movie.
Ahh...back when Susan Dey was hot.
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How else do you expect the ILM guys to get accurate bone structure measurements for the reproduction?
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I think you guys might need to read a biography on Welles. He's actually quite a lot like George Lucas. He just has a better track record.
Re:At least this will prove zombies don't exist (Score:4, Insightful)
By better track record, you mean that he died before he could ruin his own films?
I don't think George is trying to resurrect dead movie stars here. I think he just needs to own their rights so he can remove them from their films and insert Hayden Christiansen in their place.
In the end it's really just about owning IP, and George Lucas is the master of owning IP. He just also happens to be the master of destroying IP too. In fact let's just call it P, because there's really no I in his biggest franchise anymore.
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Actually, gives me a better idea (Score:2)
Actually, that gives me an even better idea. Thinking of prequels and resurrections, made me think of one book which clearly could use a Lucas prequel: the Bible. Featuring God's whiny teenager years before he made the universe, gungans, ewoks, and an epic lightsaber battle. (Hey, Genesis 3:24 says, "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." So don't tell me God didn't have a lightsabe
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If Orson Welles doesn't crawl out of his grave and strangle this arrogant, money-grubbing motherfucker with his own intestines, then at least we finally know that the dead are *truly* and *forever* gone.
We know a remote farm in Lincolnshire, where Mrs. Buckley lives; every July, peas grow there...
Why? That doesn't make any sense. Sorry.
There's no known way of saying an English sentence in which you begin a sentence with 'in' and emphasize it. Get me a jury and show me how you can say "in July", and I'll go down on you. That's just idiotic, if you'll forgive my saying so. That's just stupid, "in July"; I'd love to know how you emphasize 'in' in "In July"...impossible! Meaningless!
- Orson Welles, frozen peas [wfmu.org]
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If Orson Welles doesn't crawl out of his grave and strangle this arrogant, money-grubbing motherfucker with his own intestines, then at least we finally know that the dead are *truly* and *forever* gone.
Considering he knew Welles and you didn't goes a long way to him truly not giving a shit about your input.
You know... (Score:3)
Part of me thinks this is very creepy and even morally wrong.. but a bigger part actually wants to see it work. Pulling this off in a way that doesn’t look terrible would be pretty neat.
I could care less about seeing some dead actor brought back to life... I’m definitely interested in the work required to make it happen though.
The ethical/legal stuff is a little interesting. This falls somewhere between a family giving permission to use a dead loved one’s image for a product, and publishing something while claiming said loved one wrote it. Does anyone have the right to do the later (or even the former).. should they? Personally I don’t care what people do with me after I’m dead but I imagine some people do.
It’s probably BS anyway
Also lunch time is over. Gotta stay late enough as it is ya know. LOTS OF THINGS TO DO!
Re:You know... (Score:4, Interesting)
Like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P6EuhSNbGk [youtube.com]
Or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFh1X0pZSM8 [youtube.com]
Harrison Ford filed to protect his likeness so someone couldn't use it after he passed away.
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The difference between this and that is that that is limited to things the actor knowingly did. They knew that people would view their performance, albeit not in the context of a commercial. And, presumably, they made their performance after signing a contract that set ownership of the creation and could have dictated other terms.
If you digitally bring back the star, you could theoretically make them do something they wouldn't have been comfortable with. Whether it be something like a young Ronald Regan end
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Uhm... Terminator Salvation... nice but not impressive.
Re:You know... (Score:5, Interesting)
How long until actors start selling their voice & likeness at different ages? Of course the MPAA will lobby to extend copyright even longer.
Stallone aged 35.. that'll be $12million.
Theres a sale on DeNiro at 40 this week only $2m.
"The Darfsteller" comes to life (Score:4, Interesting)
I read this story ages ago. It won the first Hugo award for best novelette. "The Darfsteller" tells of a time when actors sell their likeness and are replaced by robots (apparently, Keanu Reeves did this early in his career).
George Lucas must've dusted off his copy of this story and said, "Hey, I can do this!"
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Everyone has obviously forgotten that good looks do not alone make a great actor. Sure, you can "resurrect" Katherine Hepburn or Judy Garland, but who'll want to watch them if all the acting is done by some modern incompetent?
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KFC tried to do it when they resurrected the Colonel from the dead using a death mask plus old footage. It looked okay but didn't work on screen. They turned the stately gentleman into a goofball and customers rejected it.
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Actually I'm having real trouble deciding why this is "morally wrong" or even "creepy" (which is the underhanded way of saying the same thing.) I see it as just another right to be negotiated.
Music Mashups are a vital creative flow - so why does it suddenly become "morally wrong" when it's a Visual Mashup? We all know the Character is (not supposed to be) the Actor. Go Go Hannibal Lector!
I'd call this just another case of the Uncanny Valley. After all, for the new Tron movie they needed a young version of a
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Actually I'm having real trouble deciding why this is "morally wrong" or even "creepy" (which is the underhanded way of saying the same thing.) I see it as just another right to be negotiated.
Because these old dead actors never gave permission to be recycled endlessly in movies. For one thing, it's going to screw younger actors. (I can just see it - Elvis movies for all freaking eternity.)
I thought it was in poor taste when they started using CGI to have Astair dance with a vacuum cleaner, to be honest.
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"This falls somewhere between a family giving permission to use a dead loved one’s image for a product, and publishing something while claiming said loved one wrote it"
Bah, there will be a new law about 'Faceright' saying you cannot duplicate the face of a person for 250 years without paying the poor family millions, so that they don't have to get a job.
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The way I see it, if not even death can save you from being abused by money grubbers, we need a revolution to get rid of either of the two root causes of the problem: humans or money. Take your pick, I'll help sharpen your pitchforks either way.
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It's a nice pipe dream, but I don't see it happening... at least not for a _long_ time.
The whole Hollywood celebrity worship thing is huge.. both in money and in popularity. Personally I think it's completely insane.. but enough people are into it that the "virtual actor" thing is going to be a major uphill struggle.
Lucas Interview from 2020 (Score:5, Funny)
Lucas: That's right, I had found that children appreciated my advanced work far more than any adult so I was doing a lot of Cartoon Network programs after that.
Interviewer: So what caused you to return to the silver screen?
Lucas: Well, I was sitting at my ranch watching some old Akira Kurosawa films -- looking for some plot or scene I had missed that I could possibly turn into a Star Wars movie -- and I got up to retrieve another sandwich from my Carl's Jr. dispenser in my living room. The machine was several treacherous feet away from the couch and as I got up, my snuggie caught on the ottoman made of hate mail and death threats. Well, I fell and a disc slipped in my spine.
Interviewer: That's right you were in the hospital for several months.
Lucas: Yes, and as I lay there calling for help in serious pain, an apparition of Ed Wood appeared to me. 'Use the cash, Lucas' he said. And I immediately understood that I had primarily ruined careers of living people when today there were whole sloughs of dead actors whose careers I could ruin with advanced computer technology.
Interviewer: Ah, yes, so at that point
Lucas: I started buying the film rights to a lot of dead actors and actresses.
Interviewer: Which led to Katherine Hepburn playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars Holiday Special II last year.
Lucas: That's right, as well as Bela Lugosi having a classic lightsaber fight with Charlie Chaplin.
Interviewer: Well, I think it's clear how you maintain such a hated profile.
Lucas: Well, you know, I try. I try. And I often remind my adopted children that they're what keeps me going. Even though at times it's hard, I can look into my son's eyes and he'll say with so much emotion, "Stop dad, just please stop, people don't want this. Please, please stop." And that keeps me going.
Re:Lucas Interview from 2020 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:LoLs (Score:5, Interesting)
That comment is so rife with irony...
I guess I need to say something interesting in order to keep myself from getting modded down.
In regards to the story posted and Eldavo's comments - no I don't think George has been ruining acting Careers. He merely takes the whole talent pool from an entire set of actors and imbues it into a SINGLE actor or actress in every trilogy. In the original, it was Harrison Ford. In this latest one, its Natalie Portman. You MIGHT be able to argue that Hayden Christensen is another one - but I actually think he's some sort of anomoly that was immune to this process, he didn't get any better or worse. But seriously, Ford and Portman seemed to be the only ones who have managed to successfully LAUNCH their careers into the higher echelons of Hollywood, who can now demand millions for being on set.
So - here's what I'm hoping. George takes a bunch of Dead Actors and Actresses. They're already famous, and George will put them along side someone we haven't seen before on film. If my understanding of Osmosis is correct - George won't be able to take the skill of 1 actor and spread it throughout the Dead Actors. Dead people can't GET any better at acting, unless they are playing the role of zombie. No, I think more appropriately, George will make all the dead actors SUCK - like it will be really painful to watch and you'll wish it was just the Star Wars Holiday Special. But somehow, this one live actor he has in the film, will manage to escape with the power of multiple famous dead actors and actresses, producing another celebrity for people everywhere to fantisize about while not doing what they are supposed to be doing.
Do not want (Score:2)
If there was ever a story that the "donotwant" tag was designed for, it is this. If the idea of digitally resurrecting dead movie stars to star in new content wasn't creepy enough, there's the fact that this has George Lucas at the helm.
He's probably had this great idea about how much fun Star Wars had been if it had included a musical number from Charlie Chaplin wearing a rubber Gungan suit. Seriously, I hesitate to try to parody whatever Lucas might come up with using this technology, on the grounds that
Recycle scripts? (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure this is being done already.
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Re:Recycle scripts? (Score:5, Informative)
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I just say: "Cleaning-woman".
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.
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The movie Looker [imdb.com] dealt with the moral issues of digitizing actors even back in 1981. And it also had a naked Susan Dey (back when that was actually something you WANTED to see) and that cool gun.
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If people didn't gobble this shit up, it wouldn't get done... sad fact is, if a movie with Orson Welles came out tommorow, people would flock to see it, the gimmick factor is huge in drawing a crowd..
on another note, hasn't it been done? I mean there was a new Indiana Jones movie, and Harrison Ford has been dead for years..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ford_(silen
Star Wars Christmas Special pt. 2 (Score:3)
Hmmm (Score:4, Funny)
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Disney is kind of doing this (Score:4, Informative)
with Tron, grafting a younger looking Jeff Bridges face unto another actor.
So why not for porn? You could have anyone you want in your porn movie.... and make it look even more realistic.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101207/ap_en_ot/us_tron_digitally_young_3 [yahoo.com]
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Run! (Score:2)
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Don't worry, I'll just make sure my garden is properly stocked with plants. We'll be safe.
Yawn... (Score:2)
New, original, and fun Science Fiction is needed (Score:2)
Why is everything in Hollywood gone retro/rerun/remake? It is a lifeless, un-original, and un-creative trend these days and it takes the place of fun, interesting, original and daring movie ideas.
Why do we need to see a re-make of the 'Wizard of Oz?'
Re:New, original, and fun Science Fiction is neede (Score:4, Interesting)
Like Warner Brothers forking over big bucks on the unproved Wachowski brothers to make the Matrix?
Or Nolan making Inception?
There are good original movies. I just skip the crappy remakes and vote with my wallet to go see movies like Inception instead.
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The answer to your questions: $$$
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Because when you look at movies from years gone by, you only remember the interesting ones. You forget about the thousands and thousands of terrible movies that preceded the terrible movies being produced today. You're also comparing a sample of nearly 100 years against a recent sample. There will be movies from this year that in 50 years will be considered classics.
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You're also comparing a sample of nearly 100 years against a recent sample. There will be movies from this year that in 50 years will be considered classics.
There is at best a 2 in 3 chance that maybe one movie this year might make it into a "top 100" list. Not necessarily "movies" not necessarily "classics"
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There are many more books that are considered "classics" than would fit on a top 100 list. Movies are starting to be the same way. There are just too many "classics". I suppose it was presumptuous of me to assume that any movies from this year will become classics - you can't really say much until they've continued in popularity for years. I'm more trying to say that the movies this year weren't of particularly lower quality than an average year from the past 90 years.
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Pretty much this. 99% of all music, movies, and TV shows are, basically, somewhere between 'decent' and 'crap'. But when you're releasing 1-2 movies a week, you're going to get 2 'greats' on average per year.
Even then, while I fondly remember movies such as Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, etc... While they're still good, they seem a bit dated to me today. ID4 is showing it's age.
Still, I'm much more a 'new' movie watcher than a rewatcher. I like the netflix service because I can easily get movi
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I just wish a studio, director, or someone had the guts and innovation to make a movie like "Star Wars" today.
I heard there is this awesome new movie coming out called "Hidden Fortress".
First film with revived dead actors (Score:5, Funny)
an adaptation of Frankenstein would seem appropriate.
Dead actors ? What's the point ? (Score:5, Funny)
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Whoa.
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No, just sad [google.com].
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He should just use Bothans. After all, many Bothans died to bring us this information.
Denied, already. (Score:2, Informative)
LucasFilm have already denied the rumour. A very simple Google search prior to publishing this summary would have shown that. I googled "Mel Smith", because I wanted to know if it was the Mel Smith from NTNON/Alias Smith & Jones. Top result, News for Mel Smith... "George Lucas NOT Digitally Resurrecting Dead Actors". On Collider.com, originally reported by On The Red Carpet. I would post a link, but I can't paste anything.
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I'd actually pay for that (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know if this counts, but I'd pay $5 for a movie involving a resurrected JarJar Binks and the guy from Temple of Doom who rips out beating hearts.
Who's with me!?
Hello?
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"Who's with me!?"
I'd fap to it!
Nothing new here (Score:5, Informative)
Well maybe, but it's been done before with Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid [imdb.com] and Zelig [imdb.com] not to mention Fred Astaire's posthumous commercial for the Dirt Devil [youtube.com] (at 3m02s).
It'd be interesting to see the end product but I'm certain it will cause nothing for grief for various estates despite any good intentions.
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There is a line and it would be good to know where it's drawn. If Lucas is allowed to digitally rend
On the positive side.... (Score:2)
Firefly might come back.
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But only after all the original actors bite the dust....
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (Score:5, Informative)
Dancing with vacuum cleaners... (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember all the outrage over colorizing Casablanca in the 1980s? There were even congressional hearings that warned of the dire consequences of unmitigated technology (someone even imagined at the time dead actors being re-inserted in new movies, unthinkable at the time). Sounds crazy [youtube.com]....
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No one knew that because no one has actually ever seen that far into this so called movie.
Good thing it's just deceased actors (Score:3)
Otherwise we might end up with a situation like in the movie "Looker" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looker [wikipedia.org]
as well as? (Score:2)
"Even if Smith is lying, it makes you wonder how long it will be until Hollywood starts to recycle actors as well as scripts"
I think that last part should read "to recycle actors like they do scripts". Hollywood certainly doesn't recycle scripts well.
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I think they would recycle actors with a similarly deft hand.
Oh Great (Score:2)
Paving the way for something better (Score:2)
Now, now, let's not get up in arms about this. Lucas develops new filmmaking technology, then other directors put it to good use.
This tech could lead the way to a live-action Futurama. Those heads in jars are going to have to be CGI, might as well make them look as good as possible. And we need to perfect the technology so that Zoidberg isn't as annoying as Jar-Jar.
Movies Never Were Holy Writ (Score:2)
The movies produced by the big studios have always been driven by the profit motive. "Art" was only valuable to the studios if it contributed to the bottom line.
It is the same thing now. "Skins" will be used as long as they make money.
Preserve the old movies, but don't lament their transformation. Celebrate the utter vulgarity of the medium!
Someday, a creative team will craft a happy accident (like Casablanca or Genevieve) through the use of "skins". Look forward to that! Your memories of the old movie
Been done in scifi short stories before (Score:2)
As I seem to recall there was some controversy because there was little control over the use of likenesses and the technology was very cheap. The line I remember was talking about a reimagining of an old Erroll Flynn pirate movie but this version featured him "vigorously and enthusiastically taking a cabin boy from behind." I think this story ran in Asimov's.
There was another story that really presaged the Youtube phenomenon. The premise is that everyone had personal video drones and could run a personal te
I hear George Lucas eats children (Score:2)
Now you all have another BS rumor to latch onto to start a hatefest.
Not really new (Score:2)
This isn't really a new idea. They did it with Paula Abdul and Fred Astaire in a Pepsi commercial, and of course there's Forrest Gump.
He's Ahead Of The Curve, Is All... (Score:2)
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So what? Condsider them cartoons. (Score:2)
Animation was bound to replace conventional acting, and offers much more scope than mere humans.
Anime is popular for good reason, and reflects the restrictions of the cartoon. Remove the restrictions, make "animation" lifelike, and the holodeck is closer.
Simpsons did it. (Score:2)
Tree House of Horror XIX
Old TV Shows (Score:2)
Sadly, the Great Stumbling Block of the arts and sciences -- copyright laws and their ilk -- will probably prevent that from ever happening.
Lucas already denied this (Score:2)
I noticed earlier on my news rounds that Lucas has already denied this [escapistmagazine.com]
really yeah so what (Score:2)
The media has been doing this with politicians for years now. Reagan being the test run. That guy died somewhere back in the 70s and he still managed to hold office in this country for two terms. A movie actor as a president???? of course they just needed rights to his movies and poof! another public leader is born. So you never notice half his speeches mysteriously flickered black and white depending on the angle of his head and the vowels in the sentence??
Fast forward to 2010 and what he got now? inside
Likeness rights don't follow movie rights (Score:2)
The rights to reproduce an actor, if they aren't in the public domain, are generally held by the actor or his estate.
The rights to reproduce the character, where the rights aren't in the public domain, do generally follow the movie.
Whether the "looks like" and "voice sounds like" rights to follow a character that had only one actor exist and who controls those rights is an open question.
Some very interesting ST scripts... (Score:2)
For example, Kirk (a young Shatner) interacting with the new Kirk (Chris Pine)...or new TNG/DS9 stories...etc
Patton Oswalt (Score:5, Interesting)
Smart move (Score:3)
In 20 years there won't even be be any film or movie actors. They won't be needed anymore because it will be far cheaper to create them digitally.
Quite frankly I will be surprised if the number of live actors isn't severely reduced by 2020.
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Informative)
Total shit webcomics are never obligatory.
Learn it. Know it. Obey it.
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Perhaps the fact that he posted a link to a total shit webcomic?
You mean like xkcd that gets quoted in every story?
I'm not affiliated with the following website, but they make a lot of good points:
xkcdsucks.blogspot.com [blogspot.com]
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The day is approaching to give it your best
You've got to reach your prime!
That's when you need to put yourself to the test
And show us the passage of time.
We're gonna need a montage. (Montage)
A sports-training montage! (Montage)
And just show a lot of things happenin' at once.
Remind everyone of what's goin' on. (What's goin' on?)
And with every shot, show a little improvement
To show it won't take too long.
That's called a montage. (Montage)
Even Rocky had a
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Actually, it reminds me more of the Darth Chef/Fruity Little Club episode. "Actor no longer with us? Well, we own the voice, let's use it anyway!" As another poster above says, horrifying but really interesting and potentially creative. It's kind of like a cross between a collage and a montage.
One big difference between "Darth Chef" and the Lucas Plan is that Darth Chef's lines were obviously (probably on purpose) clips from past lines. From what I'm reading, the Lucas Plan would be to have a Chef spin-off, and keep remixing existing lines to give the impression that this is still the actor's original work (and that the actor was still getting paid).
Re:Curiosity (Score:4, Insightful)
Just out of curiosity, is the rage more from "reviving" dead actors, or Lucas doing so?
Pretty sure I know the answer already, but feel like asking anyway.
For me, it's "in general". George Burns is a great actor and comedian, but he's passed. The thought that we're going to pull a Weekend At Bernie's for a quick buck strikes me as deeply disrespectful. Owning their "likeness" strikes me as a bit cheesy too - I'm pretty sure the intention wasn't to let Elvis' estate start making new movies.
Sadly, it won't even come to that. What'll happen is that the new "standard movie star contract" will include some fine print giving the studios the rights to the actor's likeness at that point. The actor'll get paid for one cheap movie, and then the studio will keep them in movies for free for all eternity.