Amazon-backed AI firm is trying to recreate a lost Hollywood masterpiece

An Amazon-backed AI firm is looking to recreate the lost footage of a Hollywood masterpiece.

The Hollywood Reporter published a detailed look at the efforts from the firm Showrunner to use generative artificial intelligence to reconstruct the missing 43 minutes — footage that was burned by studio execs — from the 1942 Orson Welles film The Magnificent Ambersons.

Wrote the Reporter:

"Showrunner’s endeavor will deploy a fusion of AI and traditional film techniques to reconstruct the lost footage. This includes shooting some sequences with live actors, with plans to use face and pose transfer techniques with AI tools to preserve the likenesses of the original actors in the movie. Extensively archived set photos from the film will serve as the foundation for re-creating the scenes."

Showrunner has said it will not commercialize the end results because it doesn't have the rights to the Welles film. The Welles estate publicly disapproved of the project, while also noting that it does allow the use of AI for voiceover commercial enterprises.

"In general, the estate has embraced AI technology to create a voice model intended to be used for VO work with brands. That said, this attempt to generate publicity on the back of Welles' creative genius is disappointing, especially as we weren't even given the courtesy of a heads up," a spokesperson for the estate told Variety. "While AI is inevitable, it still cannot replace the creative instincts resident in the human mind, which means this effort to make Ambersons whole will be a purely mechanical exercise without any of the uniquely innovative thinking or a creative force like Welles."

The Magnificent Ambersons was Welles' follow-up to Citizen Kane, widely considered one of the best films ever made. An NPR story from 2023 noted that the studio cut Ambersons down from 131 minutes to just 88 minutes, leaving just 13 of 73 total scenes untouched. Those lost minutes have become a focal point for film buffs who wish to see the film as Welles intended.

Now, it seems we may have a version of it — created by AI, not Welles himself.