TLDR:
- “Alien: Romulus” used AI to recreate late actor Ian Holm’s likeness
- Director Fede Alvarez got approval from Holm’s family for the AI recreation
- The AI version of Holm sparked controversy among some fans
- New legislation in California addresses AI usage of actors’ likenesses
- The recreation process involved animatronics, facial capture, and voice alteration
The recent release of “Alien: Romulus” has ignited a debate over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate deceased actors, as the film features a digital likeness of the late Ian Holm.
Director Fede Alvarez confirmed that AI technology was used to bring Holm’s character back to the screen, nearly four years after the actor’s death in 2020 at the age of 88.
In the movie, a humanoid android named Rook bears Holm’s likeness, a nod to his role as the android Ash in the original 1979 “Alien” film. The decision to include this AI-generated character has drawn mixed reactions from fans, …