Or 20 years from now… “would you like 45 year old Tom Cruise in your movie? No problem, just pay his estate $20M.”
Also, talent agencies have been paying for 3d scans of their top talent for years, just to have banked in case anyone should need it. I would guess that all the A list actors plan on getting scanned every 5 years so they can be in a movie at any age.
The next step is where the real money will be made: completely generated actors.
And I see two scenarios too:
1. You can pay the studio (?) some semi-trivial amount for the use of a completely generated AI actor that perfectly fits the Director's vision for the role.
2. You get legal knock-off actors. Sure, it's $20 MM to use Tom Cruise, but for only $1 MM you can use AI-generated Thom Ruse, who looks exactly like Tom Cruise, but just slightly different enough to be legally considered his own IP.
I don't see why existing actors would play into the picture at all. By that time there will be famous AI actors. And you can license the model for $99 per film!
Also, talent agencies have been paying for 3d scans of their top talent for years, just to have banked in case anyone should need it. I would guess that all the A list actors plan on getting scanned every 5 years so they can be in a movie at any age.