James Dean Being Resurrected With CGI to Lead Fourth Movie, 65 Years After His Death
Zack Sharf
Over six decades after his untimely death, James Dean will be resurrected on the big screen using CGI visual effects for the Vietnam War action-drama “Finding Jack.” Dean will star in the secondary leading role. Los Angeles based production company Magic City Films is behind the project and obtained the rights to use James Dean from his family. “Finding Jack” is being spearheaded by filmmakers Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh.
“Finding Jack” is based on the Gareth Crocker novel of the same name. The project’s official synopsis reads: “Based on the actual existence and abandonment of over 10,000 canine units at the end of the Vietnam War, ‘Finding Jack’ is a film of friendship and love under desperate circumstances that will grab your heart and won’t let go.” Casting is underway to find the actor who will play the lead role.
Magic City Films has announced it will work with Canadian VFX company Imagine Engine and South African VFX studio MOI Worldwide to recreate a realistic version of James Dean. Geoff Anderson from Imagine Engine will be overseeing the VFX supervision on Dean’s recreation.
“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 told THR. “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.”
Dean famously had three leading roles before he died: “East of Eden” (BAFTA and Oscar nominated for Best Actor), “Rebel Without a Cause” (BAFTA nominated for Best Actor), and “Giant” (Oscar nominated for Best Actor). The actor died in a car crash in September 1955 at the age of 24.
Pre-production on “Finding Jack” is set to begin this month. The plan is for the movie to be ready for a theatrical release on Veterans Day 2020. Magic City Films is handling the foreign sales.
