Chinese language Studio Needs to Deliver Again Bruce Lee With AI

In case you’re a movie lover, one of many nice issues about outdated classics is that you would be able to all the time discover one thing to understand while you revisit them. In case you’re a studio government, one of many nice issues about outdated classics is that you just personal them and might milk them for each penny their price. On the Shanghai Worldwide Movie Pageant, a number of Chinese language film studios introduced on Thursday that they might be taking their archive of martial arts classics and AI-ifying them.

The federal government-backed “Kung Fu Film Heritage Challenge 100 Classics AI Revitalization Challenge” will take all-time nice kung fu flicks starring the likes of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li and provides them new (however nearly actually not higher) life with the assistance of AI. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Zhang Pimin, chairman of the China Movie Basis, described the undertaking as an try to provide movies a glance that “conforms to modern movie viewing.”

It’d be one factor if this had been merely a restoration undertaking or a method to upscale the decision to one thing that feels extra trendy, however according to the Hollywood Reporter, it appears like at the very least among the effort will go into absolutely remaking the movies with AI filters atop them. For example, a trailer for the brand new AI-ed tackle John Woo’s 1986 movie A Higher Tomorrow was proven off on the pageant and reportedly turns its lead Chow Yun-fat right into a cyberpunk-looking character. The brand new take, titled A Higher Tomorrow: Cyber Frontier, is being marketed as “the world’s first full-process, AI-produced animated function movie.” Yuck.

The studios invited AI animation firms to become involved within the “revitalization” effort, which can apparently search to “reshape the visible aesthetics” of movies whereas making an attempt to “pay tribute to the unique work,” by placing up a fund of 100 million yuan (about $14 million) to assist get the ball rolling.

Different movies that can be concerned within the undertaking embrace Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972), Jackie Chan’s Drunken Grasp (1978) and Jet Li’s As soon as Upon a Time in China (1991)—all movies that you would be able to watch proper now and can discover to be each bit as magical and charming as they had been the day they first hit theaters. The stunt work nonetheless stands up, and the digital camera work nonetheless slaps. You’ll find all three of those, and loads of different martial arts classics, on streaming. In case you’re a stickler for picture high quality, movies like Fist of Fury have 4K re-releases accessible on Blu-ray. Simply watch these films. They don’t want AI sloppification to be related.