At the end of September 2022, reports ofBruce Willisselling his Deepfake image rights seemingly opened the doors for many potentialDie Hardparodies. However, the retired actor himself has fired back at those rumors by completely denying any similar deal taking place.
News of theactionstar’s alleged contract was first disclosed by British tabloid The Daily Mail and quickly picked up by outlets like The Telegraph, although now a direct spokesperson for Willis has said that he did not enter any agreement regarding his image rights. The original report stemmed from Willis taking part in a Russian ad for the communication company Megafon over a year ago, thanks to the CGI technology used by the company Deepcake.
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Deepcake has since clarified the situation by saying it did not sign a long-term deal of any kind with Willis. “What he definitely did is that he gave us his consent (and a lot of materials) to make his Digital Twin,” with the vast array of tools the company has at its disposal, Deepcake said. The original reports include aquote taken from Willis by Deepfake, with the actor expressing his satisfaction for the way he was able to go back in time, without straight-up confirming any kind of partnership besides this single experiment.BBCreported on Willis' spokesperson denying any such long-term deal had been made.
As seen in the original commercial, Willis' appearance takes after a younger version of him, harkening back tohisDie HardandFifth Elementdaysto make for a pretty convincing Russian-speaking action hero. At the time of writing, Willis’ representatives had not commented on the nature of the quotes posted by Deepcake. They limited their response to the denial of any kind of agreement with said company.
The incident will certainly alert some to the trappings that come with the use of AI and computer graphics that allow visual artists to basically make any Deepfake possible, something that even Disney has fallen back on to bring a younger version of Mark Hamill to life inThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fett, or more recently with a fellow retiree andDarth Vader James Earl Jones inObi-Wan Kenobi. Deepfakes have gone far beyond the realms of Hollywood, as the technology has also been used to fabricate damning videos involving celebrities, politicians, and public figures of all kinds.
Suffice it to say, Willis' health issues may have taken out him of the movie industry, but he’s not that eager to enter the Deepfake business. Anyone wanting to see him can justput on their favorite Willis movies.
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