Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, along with additional castmembers, will be de-aged for Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming Miramax movie Here, an adaptation of Richard McGuire’s graphic novel that is set in a single room and follows its inhabitants over many years. This will be accomplished using a new generative AI-driven tool dubbed Metaphysic Live.
On Tuesday, artificial intelligence company Metaphysic, run by Tom Graham, revealed that it has entered into a strategic partnership with CAA to develop generative AI tools and services for talent, though details of the agreement were not revealed. In a statement, Joanna Popper, chief metaverse officer at CAA, said the agency looks forward to working with Metaphysic, as its tech “combined with their ethics-first approach and thought leadership” could “unlock an incredible opportunity for the entertainment industry and beyond.”
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Perhaps most recognized as the talent behind @DeepTomCruise or deepfakes featured on America’s Got Talent, the tech firm claims its new Metaphysic Live tool can be used to create “high-resolution photorealistic faceswaps and de-aging effects on top of actors’ performances live and in real time without the need for further compositing or VFX work.”
Plans call for Metaphysic Live to be used “extensively” on Zemeckis’ movie to generate face replacements and de-aging. “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 said in a statement. “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.”
Starring Hanks and Wright, along with Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly, the film is scheduled for a 2024 release in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“It is incredible to see Metaphysic’s AI-generated content flawlessly integrated into a shot live on set. The actors can even use the technology as a ‘youth mirror’ — testing out acting choices for their younger selves in real time,” stated the movie’s production VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie.
To work on the movie, Metaphysic co-founder Chris Ume will serve as AI supervisor and chief innovation officer Jo Plaete will serve as Metaphysic VFX supervisor.
Said Metaphysic CEO and co-founder Graham in a statement: “With the support of CAA and by working on projects like Here, Metaphysic is demonstrating the transformative power of hyperreal AI to shape the future of entertainment and to eventually help people create AI-generated, photorealistic immersive content while they own and control their data.”
