Can AI Restore Lost Cinema or Only Imitate It?

[etfs]

When a startup announced plans to recreate the lost footage of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons using generative AI, the backlash felt inevitable. Cinephiles bristled. Purists scoffed. And commercially, the idea made little sense.

But a deeper look reveals something more human behind the tech.

Fable founder Edward Saatchi isn’t chasing disruption for its own sake. He’s a lifelong admirer of Welles, driven by the haunting idea that what many consider the greatest lost footage in film history might be glimpsed again — even imperfectly. Working alongside filmmaker Brian Rose, the project feels less like a Silicon Valley stunt and more like a high-budget fan letter.

Still, the challenges are enormous: technical glitches, aesthetic misfires, legal uncertainty, and the near-impossible task of recreating Welles’ visual language. Even supporters admit the result may never be released publicly.

At best, this won’t be The Magnificent Ambersons as Welles intended — only a speculative shadow of it. The question is whether that shadow deepens our appreciation of the original, or distracts from the loss that defines it.

[cryptohog]

kinda wild to think recreating lost footage might actually make the original feel less… special