Actor James Dean may have died in 1955, but that hasn’t stopped him from being cast in a new movie in 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor died in a car crash at the age of 24, but thanks to CGI technology, Dean will be making a big-screen comeback in the Vietnam War film “Finding Jack,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Using CGI technology, the filmmakers will digitally recreate Dean so that he can be cast as a “secondary lead” in the film, Entertainment Weekly reported.
“It’s not a gimmick,” co-director Anton Ernst told EW. “He’s the right guy for the role, he’s just unfortunately no longer with us.”
The film is based on a novel by Gareth Crocker and follows the story of over 10,000 military dogs that were abandoned at the end of the Vietnam War, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Dean will play the role of Rogan, a platoon leader in the war, according to EW.
The technology will use photographs and footage of Dean in combination with body doubles to recreate the likeness of the actor, EW reported.
The decision to cast Dean in the role was not made lightly, according to Ernst.
“We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs,” Ernst told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that “after months of research, we decided on James Dean.”
Similar technology has been used recently with “Star Wars” actors Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing appearing posthumously in 2016’s “Rogue One,” though the deceased actors appeared in the film in roles they had already played, Time magazine noted.
However, casting Dean in a brand new role raises new questions about how this technology could be used with other actors in the future.
“This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us,” Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, which represents Dean’s family, told The Hollywood Reporter. Roesler’s company also represents other figures in entertainment and sports, such as Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve and Ingrid Bergman.
Several current actors have weighed in on the news of Dean’s casting via Twitter.
“Captain America” actor Chris Evans called the idea “awful” and “shameful” in a tweet on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, “Lord of the Rings” actor Elijah Wood tweeted, “This shouldn’t be a thing.”
Julie Ann Emery of “Preacher” tweeted about “how little this team understands the acting craft.”