Harrison Ford, 80, has caused controversy for his "new" role: that of Indiana Jones, which he will play for what would be the last time. However, in the upcoming "Indiana Jones 5" he will appear much younger, even though it has been 40 years since the first time.
Indiana Jones 5 (set in 1944, 8 years after the events of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the 1981 film) will see the sympathetic adventurer archaeologist back in action. We would have agreed to see a more experienced Indiana (after all, another sacred monster, Sean Connery, appeared in old age as the father of Harrison Ford's character), but the star system does not stop at details such as registry office and genetics.
Viewers will see a Harrison Ford rejuvenated by visual effects and deepfake technology, who (As often story on this blog) will amaze us more and more profoundly.
Indiana Jones 5, who is this handsome young man?
It was not an easy production, nor a short one. A year ago, sequentially, Ford was injured multiple times during filming, and the death of a staff member further slowed processing. Today we are almost there, and details of this ending of the pentalogy directed by are starting to emerge Steven Spielberg (which for the occasion, however, will "delegate" the direction to James Mangold).
Among these, the fact that (at least in the opening sequences) we will see a young Harrison Ford. How did they do it? The team at Industrial, Light & Magic blended old footage of Ford from previous films with new footage shot on purpose.
“My hope,” says the producer Kathleen Kennedy, "is that you watch Indiana Jones 5 and you think, 'Oh my God, they just found some footage. This was something they shot 40 years ago.'"
"A bit creepy"
These are the first words of the American actor upon seeing an electronically rejuvenated self in the first sequences of Indiana Jones 5. He'll have to get used to it: Deepfake technology is a process that uses artificial intelligence precisely to create videos of people doing or say things they never actually did or said. After all, it's the very principle of acting, isn't it?
A possible massive use of deepfake technology will be precisely to create new videos (or entire films) with actors who are no longer there, or to make young actors appear now aged. This would allow actors to continue appearing in films even after their death, or if they will no longer be able to act: Bruce Willis knows something about it, "suspected" even that he sold the image rights to his face.
"I don't think I even want to know how it works," says Harrison Ford. “It doesn't make me want to be young, though. I'm glad I earned my age." And yet, in Indiana Jones 5 the real clothes will also be "young": the original jacket from the first film will return to the shoulders of the "real" Indiana.
