Deepfake Bruce Willis To Return To Movie Screens

Bruce Willis retired from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia, which causes a person to have difficulty communicating with others, but a “digital twin” of the American actor using deepfake technology will live on in future films and commercials. 

The Telegraph reported Willis is the “first Hollywood star” to sell the rights of his digital twin in perpetuity. The actor will license his digital rights through a company called Deekcake, which specializes in artificial intelligence. 

In a statement on Deepcake’s website, Willis said:

“I liked the precision with which my character turned out. It’s a mini-movie in my usual action-comedy genre. For me, it is a great opportunity to go back in time.

“With the advent of modern technology, even when I was on another continent, I was able to communicate, work and participate in the filming. It’s a very new and interesting experience, and I thank our entire team.”

Deepcake’s website said, “We make digital twins of people you won’t tell from real.” They added this technology is very disrupting to the film industry: 

We create digital-twins of celebrities, and the actual production process doesn’t require the physical presence of a celebrity on stage. Deepcake is only team able to make digital twin in 4K quality, On top, we can hyper-personalize your brand’s message, and jump on arena of performance marketing with A-List celebrities

Engadget said Deepcake’s engineers created the digital double by training its AI platform to study the actor’s face in several past films, including Die Hard and Fifth Element. Then the AI grafted Willis’ face on another actor.

Willis’ digital twin has already appeared in a commercial for a Russian telecoms company.

There are concerns deepfake technology could be used to spread misinformation via digitally manipulated footage of people saying and doing things that never happened.