Disney Sued Over Peter Cushing's 'Rogue One' Appearance

Rogue one a Star Wars story is considered by several fans of the franchise to be one of the few Disney era projects that holds up in a galaxy far far away however Disney is facing a lawsuit over the likeness of Peter Cushing and recreating Grand moth Tarkin hi everyone my name is Jacob ar welcome to the studio Jake vidcast where I talk about alings pop culture be sure to like like share subscribe and if you're watching on YouTube ring that little bell so you get notifications when I post a new vidcast and consider becoming a channel member all right so Disney is facing a plethora of lawsuits of course most famously the Gina corano lawsuit where she is suing them over her unceremonious firing from the Mandalorian television show on Disney plus however they are now facing a different kind of lawsuit this time over the recreation of Peter Cushing's likeness in Rogue one Star Wars story this case is very interesting to me because it seems that the estate of Cushing didn't seem to mind it and Peter kushen himself apparently signed a deal with lucasfilm that allowed them to use his likeness now it might have been in regards to toys and book covers comic books things like that but still one movie studio who had worked with Cushing previously or at least in the 90s I should say are suing Disney over this so so this is according to Pirates and princesses Donnet Disney is yet in another lawsuit this time over the use of CGI to recreate Peter Cushing's likeness in Rogue one kushen who passed away in 1994 famously played grandoff Tarkin in the original 1977 Star Wars film tyburn film Productions is suing the Disney owned company lunic heavy Industries over using Peter Cushing's likeness for the 2016 film Rogue one a Star Wars story in the film actor guy Henry portrayed Tarkin and then Lucas film added Cushing's face digitally this started the lawsuit in 2019 3 years after the film's release the production company claims they made an agreement with the late actor's estate for permission and paid a 28,000 pound fee to use his likeness tyburn film Productions claims that Disney did not have their approval which is why they are suing tyburn is run by Peter Cushing's friend Kevin Francis Francis claims that the actor did not permit his likeness to be used via special effects besides filing claims against Disney who owns both companies that being the previously mentioned film and Lucas film Francis also filed against pushings estate executiv who have since passed away in the late actors management company associated International Management Francis claims that Peter Cushing signed an agreement with them in 1993 for a film called a Heritage of horror the actor signed the agreement not to allow His Image to be used without francis's permission in 1993 while preparing to make a television film called a Heritage of horror which was not completed Disney own Lucas film and Luna Kevy Industries tried to get the claim dismissed they argued that permission from kushin wasn't needed under a contract he signed for the 1977 Star Wars and New Hope film and they paid a fee to Cushing's estate to gain permission however the judge was not convinced and denied the motion to dismiss last December after the ruling Disney appealed and got a hearing in London in July on this year on September 9th 2024 Deputy High Court Judge Tom mitchenson KC ruled against Disney's dismissal claim again saying that the case should move to a trial the judge decision was based on the case not being an arguable but would require more factual inquiry with the while the recreation of Peter Cushing has been seen by actors and fans as a potential AI threat demonstrating how easy people can be replaced many questioned the assertion that the late actor specifically requested not to be digitally created back in 1994 speculation aside the judge both felt there was enough Merit to Warrant a trial and that there that's where the case is currently headed so head on over to Pirates and princesses Donnet to read the article for yourself first of all it's very scummy for this Francis guy to sue Cushing's estate as well as his management company come on dude have some class here I know this is Hollywood I know this is the entertainment industry so you don't have any class probably but seriously what that's so stupid that's no different than when Jesse Ventura sued Chris Kyle's Widow over Chris Kyle allegedly putting Jessie Venture in his book although he doesn't call out Jessie Venture he did in the book itself he said it in an interview and then Jessie Ventura after Chris Kyle was sadly his life was taken away by someone he was helping Jessie vur suit his widow scumbag that is a scun bag and by the way Jessie vur wasn't an AV seal despite what he says he was a UDT a member of UDT which was merged with the sales long after Jesse fur left the service anyway I digress point is this Francis guy that is incredibly scummy to sue the family the family gave Disney their permission if you want to subpoena them or the rep Representatives over this fine but suing the family that's unacceptable to me now to the question at hand I actually don't have a problem if the actor or their family themselves say yes you can recreate their likeness this has been going on for years the crow famously recreated Brandon Lee's face after he passed away on the set of that film to continue they used a little bit of CGI makeup and wigs on a stunt double so they could finish making that film The Dark Knight most of that movie had been filmed and Heath Ledger had completed everything except for a couple of scenes so they use CGI makeup and wigs for a stunt double to finish the last few scenes although Heath Ledger did the majority of the shots like 99.9% they still needed to just finish just a few extra scenes now they sometimes can go a different route with that where they cast a look light actor they did this with Bruce for Game of Death I believe where he died during production so they used a different actor who would wear disguises and then splice in Bruce Lee's scenes now apparently that has had uh varying degrees and they've had to recut it several times but anyway neither here nor there point is this is nothing new to Hollywood this is nothing new to the entertainment industry so if the family or Peter kushen himself gave permission to lucasfilm to say hey yes you can use my likeness now in 1977 this technology was in its infancy computer generated images were barely being used at this time if at all and so he probably didn't have a concept for what that looked like if if you want to make the argument well he didn't know what he was signing he just thought it was for book covers Comics toys Etc okay fine but the family did give Disney permission to do this so I don't really have a problem with this I know Mark camill has given Disney permission to use his likeness as well as his voice if they want to recreate Luke Skywalker for animation or even for Live Action like they did in the Mandalorian and in the book of Boba Fett countless other times so I don't really have an issue with it on its merits now if they do it without the actor's permission or the family's permission after the actor or actress has passed away yes I have an issue with that but if they said it that's their decision it's their likeness they should be able to do that Ephraim zimis Jr who was a brilliant actor but to me he was always Alfred he voiced Alfred in Batman the Animated Series as well as Justice League and Justice League Unlimited he allowed TBN to use his voice way deep into the future he would be the one whenever TBN would come up with their little logo and say TBN broadcasting for 70 years or whatever the number was he con continued to do more and more numbers for them I saw an interview with him at the time before he passed away where he said that he was up to I believe 125 and that was before he passed away so he probably did a plethora of others so even after he had gone he gave TBN permission to continue to do that all that to say I don't have a problem with it if the actor or the family representing the actor gives permission now that being said I also have an issue with them this Francis guy suing over a movie that wasn't even released so if Peter Cushing did say hey I'm giving you exclusive rights for my likeness at least for this film and remember this is just before he passed away then the movie doesn't get released well in my mind remember I'm not a lawyer so there's no legal advice maybe if there's a lawyer in the comment section who can clarify this for me especially if you're in England I don't see how that matters if he had signed exclusive rights away for a movie that didn't even get released if I'm on the jury I'm kind of like yeah that doesn't make sense to me the movie didn't even come out why would I think that this has any Merit now if the movie had come out maybe there is some Merit to it now this might sound like I'm running cover for Disney no I'm not in fact I hope Gina corano owns Disney by the time her lawsuit has finished as well as the other people who are suing Disney for a variety of reasons so no I'm just saying in this particular instance I don't see an issue with them using his likeness if he agreed to it or if his estate agreed to it that is none of this Francis guy's business quite frankly and I think it's very scummy of him to sue Disney people over this and the family when the movie that he supposedly Cushing was going to appear in didn't even come out so that's my take on it however I will say just as a an aside I remember when Rogue one a Star Wars story came out there were people who didn't want to like it just because it was a Disney Star Wars project and I understand that but we have to be honest I didn't think this CGI was as bad as people said it was now that is just my opinion and I'm happy to state that I didn't think it was as bad I actually thought it was kind of cool when I saw it in theaters and even when I rewatched it on DVD I thought hey that's kind of cool that they brought Grand mof Tarin back in this way that is neat now like I said that is just my opinion on the matter however like I said I just want to restate this is not me running cover for Disney I'm certainly not a Disney Shield you can go back and watch my other videos I just want to keep it honest I don't think that this lawsuit means anything or has any Merit everyone else who is suing Disney if their law suit has Merit I hope they take the company to the cleaners and I hope Gina corana owns them by the end of her lawsuit if you like that video be sure to give it a like share it out to all your friends leave me a comment and tell me what you think And subscribe if you're watching on YouTube ring that little bell so you get notifications whenever I post new vidcast and consider becoming a Channel member where you get all kinds of exclusive perks including a video 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