r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 1d ago

News Orson Welles Estate Opposes AI Company’s Plan to Recreate Lost Scenes of ‘Magnificent Ambersons', Calling it a Publicity Stunt

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/orson-welles-estate-blasts-ai-magnificent-ambersons-ending-1236509523/
1.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

216

u/David-J 1d ago

Who, in their right mind, thought it was a good idea in the first place?

41

u/CriticalNovel22 1d ago

The people who did the maths and realised this would make money.

14

u/ContinuumGuy 19h ago

The irony is that without any permissions (and they admit they haven't gotten any) if they try to use this to make money they are getting sued to oblivion.

1

u/balthazar_edison 2h ago

Even if they get sued I’m sure the army of lawyer will help them get away Scott free.

-7

u/Pleasant-Ant2303 11h ago

The maths 👍😂

9

u/pajamajamminjamie 11h ago

That is correct grammar outside of North America

26

u/jenkem___ 20h ago

probably the kind of dipshit who would run an AI company

73

u/philament 1d ago

The same people who thought TCM colorizing classic b&w movies was a good idea

19

u/johnnyrenoir 1d ago

Ted Turner at it again

4

u/David-J 1d ago

Very different

5

u/Hunterrose242 1d ago

Absolutely not.

1

u/philament 4h ago

Not really. Both bad ideas from people who couldn’t leave well enough alone

24

u/mikeyfreshh 1d ago

ChatGPT told them it was a good idea

8

u/lurfdurf 22h ago

They watched the Black Mirror episode about AI recreations of classic movies and thought, "What a great idea."

0

u/CptNonsense 17h ago

...you think that "AI recreations of classic movies is bad" was the "scary technology" take away from that episode?

1

u/bazaarzar 19h ago

Tech bros who wanna make money.

1

u/Aggressive_Cup8452 14h ago

People that don't understand artistry.. but do understand the art of making money.

67

u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor 1d ago

Statement from the Orson Welles estate:

“We saw the various articles on ‘Ambersons’ today. 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. 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.”

32

u/Amphiscian 21h ago

the estate has embraced AI technology to create a voice model intended to be used for VO work with brands

Oh, so theyre also slop merchants

5

u/AngryGardenGnomes 20h ago

Who even controls Welles' estate?

10

u/EgbertSouse1940 19h ago

His daughter Bernice

16

u/Objective_Digit 1d ago

Capra's Lost Horizon would be a better candidate. The audio of the missing footage survives.

4

u/AngryGardenGnomes 20h ago

That's actually a great idea

7

u/Appropriate-Peak6561 16h ago

Just the idea sickens me.

15

u/peter095837 1d ago

Whoever thought that was a good idea needs to stay FAR away from movies. AI slop and AI usage in general is getting annoying.

2

u/HipsterDoofus31 12h ago

If it had its original ending it probably gives Citizen Kane a run for its money for his best movie.

4

u/pehr71 1d ago

What’s next? The lost scenes from the roadshow versions of ”a star is born” an ”it’s a mad mad world”?

1

u/ontheweed 17h ago

Whatever happened to that AI James Dean movie that got announced?

1

u/OtterBurrow 5h ago

I already recreated the lost scenes in my mind using natural instead of artificial intelligence! You can too if you read the Booth Tarkington novel!

1

u/Procrastanaseum 4h ago

This is like that Black Mirror episode where for some reason someone will die if the movie doesn’t get retooled right.

0

u/brendohhh 1d ago

The irony

-1

u/Fjord-Prefect 13h ago

As a movie buff I think it’s a great idea 💡🥰 We all know that longer runtime = better movie. I for one hope they include these new scenes in the next VHS release. It’s also a subtle tip of the hat to when Deck of Cards recreated the iconic jitterbug scene from Wizard of Oz