Xfinity De-Ages the Jurassic Park Cast for a Super Bowl Ad, and the Results Are Wild
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Xfinity's Super Bowl commercial uses digital de-aging to bring back the original Jurassic Park cast for an internet ad, resulting in some wonderfully bizarre and uncanny visual moments.
Super Bowl Sunday always brings out the strangest crossover experiments in advertising, and this year, tech and entertainment collided in a way that left the internet staring in a mix of awe and disbelief. In a high-budget commercial reported by Polygon, Xfinity dropped a Jurassic Park themed spot that digitally de-aged original stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum to plug their high-speed internet. The premise imagines that the park security network never failed in 1993 because of robust broadband, allowing the iconic trio to kick back by the pool and take selfies with a docile T-Rex instead of running for their lives.
While the concept leans hard into nostalgic fan service, the execution walks right into the deep end of the uncanny valley. Modern digital de-aging has come a long way in controlled environments, but forcing actors in their seventies to seamlessly interact with chaotic nineties footage creates some genuinely jarring visual moments. According to Polygon's breakdown, Laura Dern fares the best since her original appearance was so youthful, while Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum receive treatments that range from passably stationary to outright surreal when they are forced into movement.
For a generation raised on high-end CGI, real-time Unreal Engine renders, and deepfake culture, seeing Hollywood legends digitally manipulated for a cable and internet pitch feels like a bizarre fever dream. It is a classic case of studios asking if they could do something without ever pausing to consider if they actually should. Still, as far as multimillion-dollar Big Game ad breaks go, at least it gave streaming communities and social feeds plenty of bizarre meme material to break down before the kickoff even started.
Tags: Super Bowl, Jurassic Park, Technology, Streaming, Culture
Original article: Polygon