The new Star Wars film, Rogue One, wants to include Grand Moff Tarkin, but unfortunately actor Peter Cushing is no longer with us. Does that mean they'll have to recast the part? Nope. According to a new rumor, they might just recreate Cushing using computers.
The Daily Mail is reporting that Peter Cushing will be digitally recreated in Rogue One, even though he passed away over 20 years ago. A source told The Daily Mail that a whole backstory to Tarkin will come about in the new film, so it sounds like the character has a larger role than just a quick hologram appearance.
How will they do it? It's going to be a painstaking process, and the filmmakers are evidently struggling most with recreating Cushing's legs and feet, as they don't have all that much reference footage of that from the original Star Wars. But the crew will be going back through hours of Cushing movies, in particular some of his horror films, in order to make his legs look realistic.
CGI has been getting better and better in recent years, as seen in the most recent two Terminator films. Salvation recreated Arnold Schwarzenegger completely digitally, and Genisys used CGI to put a young version of the actor on screen. In Marvel's Ant-Man, computer effects were also used to create a much younger looking Michael Douglas for the opening sequence. But will it be possible to create an actor's entire performance in a computer and have it be convincing? And is resurrecting Cushing like this a good way to keep a great actor alive, or is it disrespectful?