You may or may not have heard DeepTomCruise (opens in a new tab)but TikTok definitely does. At the time of writing, the parody account owned by Metaphysic – in which actor Miles Fisher was digitally turned into Tom Cruise himself – has attracted 5 million followers, placing it among the social media platform’s biggest viral hits.
DeepTomCruise uses controversial deepfake technology to capture a virtual likeness of Top Gun: the Maverick star does things decidedly unlike Cruise, and the same visual magic has been used to bring Elvis back to life during last year’s edition America has talent.
Now Metaphysic, the leading AI software company behind magic, has announced plans to move into a movie game – and its talent for tricks seems to mean we’ll see more and more actors digitally aged in movies and TV shows in the near future.
For starters, Metaphysic has been named as the sole AI provider for the upcoming adaptation of Robert Zemeckis’ graphic novel Herestarring Forrest Gump duo of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. The film will purportedly feature the industry’s first “hyper-realistic AI-generated face replacements and rejuvenation in the very fabric of the storytelling,” with both Hanks and Wright “smoothly transforming into younger versions of themselves.”
@deeptomcruise (opens in a new tab)
♬ original sound – hey (opens in a new tab)
Sure, actors have been aged in movies before – the faces of Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Chris Evans, Keanu Reeves, Mark Hamill and Ewan McGregor have all been subjected to various forms of digital manipulation in recent years – but metaphysics a new proprietary technology called Metaphysic Live uses innovative techniques to eliminate much of the workload that made previous efforts so costly.
The tool will allow filmmakers to create high-definition photorealistic faces and aging effects on live and real-time performances of actors, without the need for further compositing or visual effects work. See Metaphysic Live in action in the video below:
Funny, right? Metaphysic says the technology, which maps photorealistic content to real-life scenes at up to 30 frames per second, is a “dramatic advancement […] that will be essential for creating immersive AR/VR, gaming and entertainment experiences in the future. And it looks like the company is not wrong to think so.
In addition to Zemeckis, Metaphysic has partnered with one of Hollywood’s leading talent agencies, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) – whose clients include Margot Robbie, Harry Styles, Chris Hemsworth and Madonna – to “unlock creative opportunities for artists using AI throughout the film, television and entertainment.
What exactly that means is still unclear – but we suspect the AI-assisted visuals shown in Zemeckis Here will be just the beginning of Hollywood’s relationship with Metaphysic. Indeed, a company representative told TechRadar that the partnership “will allow producers, writers, directors, and other creative artists to leverage Metaphysic’s AI in the same way Miramax does.” [does] Down Here. Plus, the possibilities are endless.”
Metaphysic’s move to filmmaking comes just months after Disney’s in-house VFX division announced its own breakthrough in digital re-aging technology. The entertainment giant announces its Face Re-aging Network (FRAN) as “the first practical, fully automatic and production-ready facial re-aging method” and a “blink and you’ll miss” demonstration in the first Indiana Jones 5 the trailer looks as impressive as Metaphysic’s real-time reconstruction of Elvis. So it’s clear that re-aging (or even deepfake) technology is preparing for a new offensive on our eyeballs.
Of course, many ethical questions remain unanswered. Is it right to reanimate long-dead icons? Will the younger versions of the older actors make it harder actual Will younger actors succeed in Hollywood? Nobody knows for sure yet. But one thing’s for sure: there’s never been a better time to see it Tom Cruise dances to Lady Gaga in his bathrobe.