Ride the Lightning

Bruce Willis Licenses the Use of Bruce Willis Deepfakes in Russia

August 19, 2021

I have to say, I never imagined a blog post title like this one. As many RTL readers will know, John and I lecture regularly on deepfakes – and this is certainly a story we will want to cover henceforth!

Intellinews reported on August 18 that Bruce Willis’ face will be back on the screens in Russia after he agreed to feature in the new advertising campaign of leading Russian mobile phone company Megafon. He will not physically participate in any of the filming, which will be entirely filmed without him using deepfake technology.

Willis is very popular in Russia. The advertising campaign will have a serial format, be shown on federal TV channels, as well as on the Internet, and also be placed on outdoor advertising billboards.

The advertisement for Megafon will use the image of Willis from the “Die Hard” movies, which has been recreated using “deepfake” face generation technology based on neural network algorithms. It is, as many readers will know, now possible to create live action images of actors that are entirely generated by computer, without the need for the actual star’s participation. Willis has licensed the use of his image.

The “Die Hard” movies remain very popular in Russia, especially those that feature Russia. Megafon did not disclose how much the actor will be paid for the campaign, but according to sources, it could be from $1MM to $2MM.

To appeal to younger audiences under 35, Willis will have a partner in the story – the popular Russian TV presenter Azamat Musagaliev (who stars in the Russian programs “Once Upon a Time in Russia” show and “Where is the Logic?” program on TNT).

The format is based on the traditional team of experienced and young partners who together can get out of any situation. 

A total of 15 episodes of the series is planned. That’s a nice payday for Willis without him actually having to do anything. It is remarkable the world we live in.

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Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
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Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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