It was widely reported that Bruce Willis is the first film and TV star in Hollywood to sell his digital twin rights. According to Telegraph, the actor signed a deal with US-based DeepCake, the deep fake technology company.  

Popular action movie star Bruce Willis retired earlier this year prompted by his diagnosis of aphasia. Willis has a cognitive disorder that has profoundly impacted his ability to communicate. 

Deepcake clarifies that “The wording about rights is wrong… Bruce couldn’t sell anyone any rights; they are his by default.”

Willis and Deepcake

Using deep fake technology, Willis’s digital twin appeared last year in a commercial for Russian mobile phone service, MegaFon.

Deepcake, which specializes in "digital twins" of celebrities, created the commercial. It features a younger-looking Willis tied up to another actor playing a "secret agent” as a bomb counts down. 

On the Deepcake website, Willis talks about the technology.

"I liked the precision of my character. It's a great opportunity for me to go back in time. The neural network was trained on content of "Die Hard" and "Fifth Element", so my character is similar to the images of that time, Willis said.

With the advent of modern technology, I could communicate, work and participate in filming, even being on another continent. It's a brand new and interesting experience for me, and I am grateful to our team," the actor added.

Digital twin technology 

Last year My Heritage introduced a service called Deep Nostalgia. The popular genealogy site is using deepfake technology to animate family photos often of people who have passed away.

Through machine learning and AI, the technology is able to superimpose a person's likeness over another individual. It creates a visual and audio digital twin in videos.

The flawless digital recreations raise a few ethical questions. But the tech also has a lot of very positive possibilities. It is already being used in filmmaking, especially in the Star Wars universe.  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Mandalorian Season 2 both have deep fake animations. 

It was announced last week that famed Star Wars actor James Earl Jones was transferring the rights to the Darth Vader voice tones.

Jones is retiring from the role. And is allowing an AI company, Respeecher, to create his unique voice using the deep fake technology.

Concerns remain about deepfake technology. It is capable of fooling viewers. But it also allows actors to portray their younger selves. And can even bring back Hollywood stars and have them appear in modern-day films and commercials.