Fable uses generative AI to recreate lost Orson Welles footage

The artificial intelligence startup Fable is utilizing generative AI to recreate 43 minutes of lost footage from The Magnificent Ambersons, a classic film by director Orson Welles. The project, which was profiled this week by The New Yorker, aims to reconstruct scenes that were cut by the studio and subsequently destroyed. Fable founder Edward Saatchi, who first saw the film at age twelve, has long been fascinated by the missing material. “To me, this is the holy grail of lost cinema,” said Saatchi, the founder of Fable. The startup originally announced its plans to recreate the lost footage last fall.

Fable’s current initiative is a slicker, better-funded version of previous work by filmmaker Brian Rose, who is now working with the startup. While Rose’s earlier attempts relied on animated scenes based on the movie’s script, photographs, and Welles’ notes—which Rose said left many of his viewers puzzled—Fable is employing a different technical approach. The startup is filming scenes in live action and overlaying them with AI-generated recreations of the original actors and their voices. Simon Callow, an actor and biographer who is currently writing the fourth book in his multi-volume Welles biography series, has agreed to advise the project, which he described as a great idea.

However, the project faces steep technical and ethical hurdles. Fable’s AI output has already produced errors, including a two-headed version of the actor Joseph Cotten and a happiness problem, with the AI tending to make the film’s women look inappropriately happy. Critics have also raised concerns, with some characterizing the effort as vampiric. Melissa Galt, the daughter of actress Anne Baxter, stated her mother would have strongly disagreed with the project, calling the recreation a creation of someone else’s truth rather than the original work. Saatchi admitted it was a complete mistake not to speak to the Welles estate before announcing the project last fall. Fable is reportedly working to win over Warner Bros., the rights holder to the film, and the Welles estate. Beatrice Welles, the filmmaker’s daughter, now believes the team is approaching the project with deep respect toward her father and the movie.

Why it matters

The project highlights the ongoing debate over using generative AI to ‘recreate’ lost art and the ethical and creative challenges involved in such attempts.