Cool or creepy? A Hollywood film company plans to resurrect iconic actor James Dean, killed in a car wreck in 1955, and “cast” him in a new movie via special effects technology.
Magic City Films announced Wednesday it has obtained the rights from Dean’s family to cast him posthumously in a secondary lead role in a Vietnam-era action drama ””Finding Jack.”
The movie, based on a novel of the same name by Gareth Crocker, will tell the true story about the abandonment of thousands of canine units as “surplus military equipment” after the end of the Vietnam War, and the adventure that ensues when a smitten soldier refuses to leave his best friend behind, according to IMDb.
Casting of live actors (and presumably dogs) for the film is underway, according to a news release from public relations company Falco Ink.
Dean, born in Indiana in 1931, lived fast, died young (he was 24), and made a big impression in Hollywood with only three film roles as troubled and surly youths: “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955), “East of Eden” (1955), and “Giant” (released in 1956 after his death).
These films, and his messy death – Dean collided with a farm truck while driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder to Salinas, California, for a car race – branded him forever as an icon of teen alienation. Many baby boomers still swoon over Dean.
The film’s producer, Anton Ernst, noted in a statement that Dean’s family considers “Finding Jack” to be Dean’s fourth film role.
“We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean,” Ernst said. “We feel very honored that his family supports us and will take every precaution to ensure that his legacy as one of the most epic film stars to date is kept firmly intact.
“The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down.”
The producers hope to release the film on Veterans Day 2020.
The filmmakers will be using VFX, or visual effects, the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live action shot, to re-create Dean. A Canadian firm, Imagine Engine, will be working with a South African company, MOI Worldwide.
Mark Roesler, head of CMG Worldwide, the business agent for Dean’s family, said in a prepared statement that rapidly evolving film technology opens up a new frontier for the “branding” firm’s long-deceased clients, including more than 1,700 entertainment, sports, music and historical personalities.
”This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us,” Roesler said.
USA TODAY reached out to CMG for comment about why the Dean family has agreed now to the filmmakers’ plans.
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