Showrunner Aims to Use AI to Restore Lost Orson Welles Footage
▼ Summary
– Showrunner is using generative AI to restore lost footage from Orson Welles’ 1942 film “The Magnificent Ambersons,” which was cut down by RKO without his input.
– The original 131-minute version was reduced to 88 minutes, and Welles disowned the studio’s cut, which was still nominated for four Oscars.
– Showrunner’s FILM-1 model will generate approximations of the missing scenes using AI and manipulated live actors to resemble the original cast, aided by archival materials.
– The project involves AI VFX artist Tom Clive and filmmaker Brian Rose, who previously attempted a restoration, and Showrunner plans not to monetize it to avoid legal issues.
– Co-founder Edward Saatchi stated the goal is to realize Welles’ original vision and potentially offer the restoration to IP holders if they see commercial value.
A groundbreaking initiative is underway to restore one of cinema’s most famous lost treasures using artificial intelligence. Showrunner, a startup known for its AI-generated content, has announced plans to recreate the missing footage from Orson Welles’ 1942 masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons. The film, adapted from Booth Tarkington’s novel, was drastically cut by studio RKO against Welles’ wishes, reducing its runtime from 131 minutes to just 88. Welles himself disowned the final version, lamenting that the studio “destroyed Ambersons and it destroyed me.”
Showrunner aims to reverse that creative loss through a combination of generative AI and historical research. The company has developed a new model designed to approximate what the excised scenes might have looked like, drawing from Welles’ own detailed notes, which RKO ignored. Since the original negatives were destroyed long ago, the team will rely on AI to generate keyframes and settings, while using live actors whose faces will be digitally altered to resemble the original cast.
To bring technical expertise to the project, Showrunner has enlisted Tom Clive, a visual effects artist specializing in AI face-swapping who has worked on major films like Alien: Romulus. They are also collaborating with filmmaker Brian Rose, who previously attempted a hand-drawn restoration of the missing scenes. Rose had noted the difficulty of populating recreated scenes with believable characters and expressed concerns over intellectual property rights, since Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rights to the film.
Showrunner appears undeterred by potential legal challenges, adopting a “create first, ask later” approach similar to its earlier unauthorized South Park episodes generated by AI. However, the company has stated it does not plan to monetize the Ambersons restoration. Instead, co-founder Edward Saatchi described the effort as a passion project meant to finally answer an 80-year-old question among cinephiles: could this have been one of the greatest films ever made in its original form?
Saatchi added that Showrunner would willingly hand over the finished restoration to the rights holders if they see commercial or cultural value in it. The project represents not just a technical experiment, but a strategic effort to position AI as a legitimate tool in film preservation and potentially attract partnerships within the entertainment industry.
(Source: The Verge)
