With the help of artificial intelligence, “Forrest Gump” couple Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are being digitally rejuvenated for the new Hollywood film “Here”. Revolutionary technology transforms actors on set into younger versions of themselves in real time.
For the first time since 1994’s six-Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, the film’s couple, will be in front of the camera together. Directed by “Forrest Gump” creator Robert Zemeckis, “Here” stars 66-year-old Hanks and 56-year-old Wright. As has now become known, the two main actors as well as Marvel star Paul Bettany and “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly will be digitally rejuvenated for “Here” using artificial intelligence. This is reported, among other things, by the industry magazine “The Hollywood Reporter”.
An AI tool from the tech company Metaphysic is to be used. It is called Metaphysic Live and is said to be able to transform performers into younger versions of themselves on set and in real time – a first in the previously very time-consuming and expensive technology of digital rejuvenation. Director Zemeckis, who also directed ‘Forrest Gump’ and the legendary ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, explained: “Here simply wouldn’t work if the actors couldn’t seamlessly morph into younger versions of themselves”. The Metaphysic Live tool would enable just that “in ways previously impossible”.
The film “Here”, which is already in production, is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Richard McGuire. In the original, the action takes place within just one room between the years 1902 and 2029. The tool used in the shooting of “Here” should now be able to carry out the digital rejuvenation without subsequent post-processing. “Performers can even use the technology as a ‘juvenile mirror’ and try out their acting for their younger versions in real time,” explains Here special effects supervisor Kevin Baillie.
“Here” director Zemeckis has already successfully used a number of technical innovations in his long Hollywood career. For example, the filmmaker had leading actor Hanks shake the hand of late US President John F. Kennedy in the classic “Forrest Gump”, combined live-action and animation scenes in “Wrong Game With Roger Rabbit” and used performance capture technology in ” The Polar Express” and “The Legend of Beowulf”.
The technology of digital rejuvenation has been increasingly used in film productions in recent years. For example, cinema viewers will see a rejuvenated Harrison Ford in parts of “Indiana Jones and the Call of Destiny” later this year. Samuel L. Jackson was digitally rejuvenated for Marvel blockbuster Captain Marvel, and stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for Martin Scorsese’s mafia epic The Irishman.
(This article was first published on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.)
