Filmsane

You’ve probably heard the news. The Martin Scorsese’s Netflix biopic The Irishman is causing a lot of troubles for Marty and Netflix. Money related troubles. Yes. The movie that has now entered post production is already over budget, and that budget is just going up. That’s right. Currently that budget is around the 140 million dollar mark, and is expected to go up mostly because of the actor’s de-aging process that is required for the flash back scenes.

“The Irishman” tells the true story of mobster Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, who carried out more than 25 hits and was allegedly involved in the death of mob boss Jimmy Hoffa. Robert De Niro is playing Sheeran, while Al Pachino is portraying Jimmy Hoffa. Joe Pechi, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel and Jesse Plemons are also in the movie, and The Irishman marks the first collaboration between Scorsese, De Niro and Pechi since the 90’s classic Casino.

Now, de-aging is nothing new actually but its hella expensive, since it requires a team of very talented VFX artists. Most notably Brad Pitt was aged several times throughout The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Arnold Schwarzenegger was made a younger version of his famous character in Terminator Genisys and the same can be said about Jeff Bridge’s wrinkle ironing in Tron Legacy.

But while we wait on the final price tag of The Irishman and the look on De Niro’s new and younger face, let’s look at some of the finest (and funniest) examples of de-aging in Hollywood movies.

Ant-Man (2015)
De-aging actor in question: Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym

Captain America: Civil War (2016)
De-aging actor in question: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
De-aging actor in question: Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
De-aging actor in question: Kurt Russell as Ego

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
De-aging actor in question: Orlando Bloom as Legolas

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
De-aging actor in question: Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

Terminator Genisys (2015)
De-aging actor in question: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator android

Tron: Legacy (2010)
De-aging actor in question: Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
De-aging actor in question: Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian Mckellen as Magneto