James Dean, who died in 1955, is set to star in a new science fiction film, Back to Eden, thanks to artificial intelligence. A digital clone of the actor, created using deepfake-like technology, will appear on screen alongside living actors. This marks the second attempt to resurrect Dean digitally; a previous project, Finding Jack, was cancelled in 2019.
The technology goes beyond passive digital reconstruction, allowing the AI avatar to interact in augmented reality, virtual reality, and gaming. Travis Cloyd, CEO of WorldwideXR (WXR), which represents Dean's image, says this represents a significant shift in what is possible, offering a form of digital immortality for actors.
However, the practice raises troubling questions about posthumous rights. Who owns a person's face, voice, and persona after death? Could an actor be made to appear in genres or advertisements they would have opposed? The Hollywood actors' strike, the first in 43 years, partly concerns fears of being replaced by AI algorithms. Actor Susan Sarandon has warned that AI could make her 'say and do things I have no choice about'.
Dean's cousin, Marc Winslow, supports the project, citing his cousin's enduring screen appeal. 'If there are two or three other people in a scene, your eye goes right to him,' he said. Dean's image is one of hundreds managed by WXR and its licensing company, CMG Worldwide.
