Tom Hanks and Robin Wright to be ‘de-aged’ for Robert Zemeckis film ‘Here’
Actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright will be de-aged through deepfake technology in their appearances in the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film, Here. The movie will be an adaptation of Richard McGuire’s graphic novel of the same name.
As part of his efforts to make the passing of time as realistic as possible, the director will be working with Metaphysic Live, the company that famously created the infamous deepfake videos of Tom Cruise in 2021.
Metaphysic Live’s technology employs face swaps and de-ageing effects on actors’ performances to make them appear older or younger without the help of any additional visual effects. Chris Ume, the company’s co-founder, will supervise the film’s use of AI and chief innovation officer Jo Plaete will fill the role of Metaphysic VFX supervisor.
“I’ve always been attracted to technology that helps me to tell a story. With Here, the film simply wouldn’t work without our actors seamlessly transforming into younger versions of themselves. Metaphysic’s AI tools do exactly that, in ways that were previously impossible,” Zemeckis shared.
He added: “Having tested every flavor of face replacement and de-aging technology available today, Metaphysic are clearly the global leaders in feature-quality AI content and the perfect choice for this incredibly challenging, emotional film.”
This upcoming project will showcase Hanks and Zemeckis’ fifth time working together following Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Cast Away and Pinnochio.
Variety reported that the actor approached Zemeckis with the request to appear in the Disney+ live adaptation of the original animated Pinnochio. “Opposite, opposite. I heard that he was doing it,” the star shared, as reported by MovieWeb. “Yeah [Zemeckis] and I get together about every three months and ponder great questions and go over everything that’s going on in our lives and the business and when he was.”
He added: “I just heard Bob was going to do Pinocchio I called him up and I just said, ‘All right, do you have Geppetto or not?’ and he said, ‘You’d be interested?’ And I said, ‘Bob I would walk through the island of lost boys smoking a cigarette in order to work with you on a movie again.'”
Here will also feature on-screen appearances from Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly. The film is scheduled for a 2024 release and so far has the brief synopsis: “Set in one single room, follows the many people who inhabit it over years and years, from the past to the future.”
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