AI Startup Aims to Recreate Lost Orson Welles Film

A Bold AI Project for a Lost Classic

An AI startup named Fable recently announced an ambitious and perplexing plan: to recreate the 43 minutes of lost footage from Orson Welles’ classic 1942 film, “The Magnificent Ambersons.” This surprising move comes from a company that positions itself as the “Netflix of AI” and has secured funding from Amazon’s Alexa Fund, raising questions about its focus on such a niche historical project.

Who is Fable and What is Their Goal

Fable has developed a platform enabling users to generate their own cartoons using AI prompts. While currently focused on its own intellectual property, the company has expressed its ambition to work with Hollywood IP. In fact, its technology has already been used to create unauthorized episodes of “South Park.”

Now, Fable is launching a new AI model designed to generate complex, long-form narratives. Filmmaker Brian Rose, who has already dedicated five years to digitally reconstructing Welles' original cut, intends to use this model to finally remake the lost footage from “The Magnificent Ambersons.”

The Controversy Without Rights or Blessing

Remarkably, Fable has not secured the rights to the film. This makes the project a prospective tech demonstration that will likely never see a public release. The decision to proceed is made even more astonishing by the fact that Fable apparently never contacted the Welles estate.

David Reeder, who represents the estate for Welles’ daughter Beatrice, blasted the project in a statement to Variety. He described it as an “attempt to generate publicity on the back of Welles’ creative genius,” adding that it will amount to a “purely mechanical exercise without any of the uniquely innovative thinking [of] a creative force like Welles.” Interestingly, Reeder seemed more upset by the lack of communication than the use of AI itself, noting the estate has embraced AI for voice-over work.

Why The Magnificent Ambersons

For those not deeply familiar with classic cinema, “Ambersons” might seem like an odd choice for an AI resurrection. While Welles' “Citizen Kane” is often cited as the greatest film ever made, his second film is famously remembered as a lost masterpiece. The studio famously seized control from Welles, cutting the film down and tacking on a new, unconvincing happy ending.

It is this reputation—the sense of what could have been—that likely attracted Fable and Rose. However, the legacy and importance of “The Magnificent Ambersons” are inextricably linked to Welles himself, his genius, and the dramatic impact its failure had on his career.

A Mechanical Exercise or a True Homage

While previous projects have aimed to posthumously fix or finish Welles' movies, they relied on footage the director actually shot. Fable’s approach is different, describing a hybrid of AI and traditional filmmaking. This would involve reshooting some scenes with modern actors and then using AI to swap their faces with digital versions of the original cast.

Despite the legal and ethical issues, Rose’s motivation appears genuine. In a statement, he lamented the loss of a specific four-minute-long, unbroken tracking shot, calling its destruction a tragedy. But a sense of loss cannot be fixed with technology.

No matter how convincing the final product is, it will be a replica, not a restoration. It will feature Frankensteined versions of actors like Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead, not the actors themselves. It will not be the film RKO Pictures destroyed over 80 years ago. Barring a miraculous discovery of the lost reels, that version is gone forever, and this is a tragedy AI cannot undo.