[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Alien: Romulus.]
That would be the reappearance of Ian Holm as a “synthetic” android in Alien: Romulus, a secret held back from the film’s marketing and even its San Diego Comic-Con panel.
But the jury is still out on Alien: Romulus‘ own attempt at raising the dead.
This symbiotic idea was hatched by Romulus writer-director Fede Álvarez.
(Romulus is set between the action of Alien and Aliens.)
We wanted to make sure everybody was on board with the idea of bringing his likeness back,” the director said.
“That was the only headcast that exists of Ian Holm,” Álvarez said.
“It’s a whole bag of tricks, from 1970s and 1980s technology to technology from yesterday,” said Álvarez.
[Warning: There are significant Alien: Romulus spoilers in this story. The ].
It was the summer surprise of the year for science fiction fans of a certain age.
That would be the return of Ian Holm in Alien: Romulus as a “synthetic” android; this information was withheld from the movie’s promotional materials and even from its panel at San Diego Comic-Con. It was also a significant project, requiring approval from the late actor’s estate and a combination of animatronics, computer-generated imagery, and artificial intelligence to finish the illusion, given that Holm passed away in 2020 at the age of 88.
The outcome is the most ambitious attempt at reanimating a deceased actor for a motion picture to date. In 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Peter Cushing, who passed away in 1994, had his CGI face recreated to play Grand Moff Tarkin from the original 1977 Star Wars film. This was the last major attempt, and by most accounts the first.
Many people felt that the technology had failed to trick the audience into believing they were watching a real, live human being, which led to a negative response to that cameo.
Paul Walker died in a car accident before filming of Furious 7 could be finished, so similar technology was used to finish his role a year earlier. The audiences’ acceptance of the computer-generated deception was aided by their sentimentality regarding Walker’s passing.
Regarding Romulus’ own attempt to bring the dead back to life, Alien, the verdict is still out. Some have questioned the ethics of the action, labeling it as callous and cynical. Disney-owned 20th Century Studios is described by Slate as “a massive conglomerate that puts profit ahead of respect for human lives,” drawing a parallel between it and the evil Weyland-Yutani corporation in the series. “.
SlashFilm declared the endeavor to be an artistic fiasco: “It’s disorienting and peculiar.”. It never appears authentic. The plain fact is that this is a bad idea overall, in addition to looking awful. “.
The attempt’s scope and ambition, however, are undeniable. This is a big role, appearing in several scenes and contributing long stretches of dialogue that have a big impact on the story until the shocking conclusion of the fourth act.
It is a mind-bender in terms of cinematic advancement: born when AI did not exist, he was one of the most iconic AI characters ever portrayed in a motion picture. The AI required to recreate him is still alive, even though the human who played him has since passed away.
Fede Álvarez, the writer-director of Romulus, came up with this mutually beneficial idea. Analyzing the mythology of the franchise, Álvarez discovered that the number of synthetic models was restricted. In 2017’s Alien: Covenant, for instance, Michael Fassbender portrayed two identical models. ( ).
The series’ first synthetic character, Holm’s Ash (though they prefer to be called “artificial persons” or APs), was found to be its most intriguing and deserving of a resurrection after discussions with producer Ridley Scott, who helmed 1979’s original Alien, Covenant, and 2012’s Prometheus.
“Ash was always the best,” Riley said. Recently, Álvarez told The Hollywood Reporter, “He needs to make a comeback.”.
The end product is Rook, a precursor to the similarly named chess piece Bishop, played by Lance Henriksen in the 1986 film Aliens, and a clone of Ash, who was destroyed in the first movie. There is a pause in action between Alien and Aliens. ).
Rook was intended to be a figure of moral ambiguity; that is, someone whose well-meaning but programmed intentions might not necessarily lead to the best outcomes for humanity, unlike Ash, who is portrayed as a villain in the original movie, or Bishop, who functions as an ally. Thus, he serves as an ideal metaphor for the discussions that are currently taking place regarding the application of AI.
Seldom does he lie to people, plot, or try to force someone to do something they don’t want to do, according to Álvarez. “It was enjoyable to play the line ‘Is he going to be more like Bishop, or is he going to be more like Ash?'” despite the fact that he is actually fairly straightforward.
Rook serves Weyland-Yutani, as Álvarez had envisioned, but instead of using his programming to find ways to weaponize the deadly Xenomorphs, he sees a path to perfecting the human race through a fluid he calls “the Prometheus fire” in their DNA. The outcomes are pretty disastrous.
Prior to any further action, Holm’s estate would have to approve the recreation of his likeness in the movie. With the approval of his widow and all of his children, we went for it. The director stated, “We wanted to be sure that everyone was in favor of bringing his likeness back.”.
Álvarez provided additional background information in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Following The Hobbit, Holm would have loved to have been involved in more projects, but he was not given the opportunity by Hollywood, according to his wife, Sophie de Stempel, an artist living in London. She was ecstatic to think that he would be returning. After reaching an agreement on compensation, the estate approved the likeness.
Actually, The Hobbit made Rook possible because the New Zealand-based company Weta FX had a headcast of Holm from The Lord of the Rings lying around. (Holm portrayed Bilbo Baggins in multiple fantasy epics directed by Peter Jackson, which were inspired by the works of J. R. J. R. Tolkien. According to Álvarez, “That is the only headcast of Ian Holm that exists.”.
The same practical effects company that brought us The Mandalorian’s Grogu was behind the creation of a fully animatronic version of Holm, which was bifurcated and leaking milky fluid following a messy encounter with a monster. Thanks to Metaphysic, the company that made those popular deepfakes of Tom Cruise, that was enhanced in post with computer-generated imagery (CG) to animate the mouth, eyes, and nose. Álvarez remarked, “It’s a whole bag of tricks, from technology from yesterday to that from the 1970s and 1980s.”.
Actor Daniel Betts reenacted the dialogue as Holm, altering his intonations and voice in the process. The recording was fed into a program called Speecher, which used Ash dialogue from the first Alien movie to change Betts’ voice.
When Álvarez sent De Stempel some of the Holmes footage in June, she got to see her husband for the first time. In order to determine her response, he then called her. “The call was extremely emotional,” he said to EW. “They lost him not too long ago, and I lost my dad at the same time.”. As a result, I understood their suffering as well as their joy at seeing him return in the film. “.
At the movie’s August London premiere, Holm’s family witnessed the finished product. In a statement, she says, “We loved being there and are pleased that [Fox is] bringing both Alien and lan to another generation.” She is 14 years old. “.
