The Star Wars franchise—on a technical level—has always been known for pushing the limits of movie technology. When that Star Destroyer flew across the screen in 1977, audiences had never seen anything like it. In Rogue One, it once again did something unprecedented: recreated the likeness of major characters from the original movie to star in the film.
Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin and a 19-year-old Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia both make appearances in Rogue One. Fisher's is a brief surprise appearance at the end, while Tarkin plays a key role in the film as commander of the Death Star.
Many debates have raged on the ethics of these characters being digitally placed in the film and if Industrial Light & Magic (the Star Wars visual effects company) even pulled it off. Certainly, the computerised characters look stunningly lifelike, but still kind of creepy in an uncanny valley sort of way. Another question is if Disney will use this same technology to place General Leia in Star Wars IX after the tragic passing of Fisher last week.
What's not up for debate is how much effort went into creating these CGI versions of Cushing and Fisher. A new Nightline segment goes behind the scenes of how they made it work, including recreating the stickiness of Cushing's lips, finding an actor who looked like him, and even digging up a vintage mold of his face.
