Peter Cushing to be digitally recreated in Star Wars spin-off Rogue One

In one of the stranger stories to surface over the weekend, The Daily Mail reports the late Peter Cushing, star of countless horror flicks and two Doctor Who feature films, will rise from the grave to once again portray Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

‘Cushing is [part of] a pivotal plot line as he was the one to create Darth Vader and there’s a whole back story that will come out’. Described as a gritty war movie – in juxtaposition with the more standard space opera approach – Star Wars: Rogue One will be set in the time just before the events in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and follow the squadron sent in to steal the plans for the original Death Star. So director George Lucas gave him permission to wear slippers and instructed the camera operators to only film him from above the knees. That means that he was only shot from the ankles upwards, and no film footage exists of his feet.

CGI technicians have been particularly challenged in recreating his legs and feet, because they never appeared on camera in the original film. However, according to Collider, bringing back Tarkin as a key character makes sense because he is significant in the building of the Death Star.

But the actor died in 1994 at the age of 81 from prostate cancer. “It is eerie to see someone who has been dead for so long come to life on a screen”, added the source.

Rogue One actor Donnie Yen has revealed what appears to be new helmet designs from the first standalone Star Wars movie. Given that a recently-released novel focusing on the character has been included as part of Disney’s new official Star Wars chronology, it should come as little surprise that Tarkin will play such a major role, however.

CGI has been used before to complete movies when actors have died during production, including when Oliver Reed suffered a fatal heart attack while filming Russell Crowe‘s Gladiator in 1999.