Mark Hamill Apprehensive About Generative AI, Open to Discuss Likeness Rights for Posthumous ‘Star Wars’ Projects
Mark Hamill was recently asked by Variety about the future of generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and whether or not he’ll have to sign over his likeness rights to appear in future Star Wars media digitally.
Variety asked Mark Hamill if he was familiar with the recent trend of GenAI-based fan films that feature a (usually) de-aged version of himself acting out dialogue and actions written by user command. His response was that he didn’t quite know what to think of it, but that he might just have to have some long conversations about the rights to his likeness:
“I haven’t seen [any of those fan films]. It’s one of those things where there’s a disconnect between the fan world and myself, in the sense that every actor does the job, and when the job is completed, they move on to the next project… It’s fascinating to see [this technology] develop, and I’m also apprehensive about how it will be used… It’s obviously hard to predict the future, but I guess I’m gonna have to talk to my family about if they want me to be in a Star Wars movie 30 years from now after I’m gone.”
The interview unfortunately did not really get into a discussion of how the process compared to Lucasfilm’s official efforts for their Disney Plus shows doing just that, with the key difference being that his actual consent and involvement are part of that process. It is well-known that James Earl Jones sold the rights to his voice as Darth Vader to Lucasfilm for the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, and they have since capitalized on those rights by using Fortnite to have real-time non-player character dialogue in direct response to user commands – with this being one of the first major uses of his voice following his passing.
For now, Mark Hamill says that he is officially retired from Star Wars for the foreseeable future, CGI body double and digital audio double or not. His last theatrical outings were the three films of the sequel trilogy, along with a pair of televised appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
