Final Fantasy Movie inspires "mainstream" digital actress

[08.16.00] » Al Pacino to star opposite digital diva in Andrew Niccol's Simone

   The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that director Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca) has cast a digital actress opposite Al Pacino in his forthcoming movie, Simone. The casting decision reportedly comes after a fruitless search for a flesh and blood actress to fill the role. Footage from Square's forthcoming Final Fantasy movie prompted Niccol to make such a bold decision. The level of detail was reportedly high enough to encourage Niccol to make the all-digital plunge.

   Not everyone is happy about the decision, however. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is reportedly furious. The New York Daily News quoted one unnamed insider as saying, "They better have lists of hundreds of girls he looked at, unless they want SAG to come down on him." SAG spokesman Greg Krizman says, "It's not a big deal when it's an animated movie, but in the case of this thing an actor is losing his job." The GIA was not previously aware that animated movies were not real movies and that voice acting was not real acting. Thanks to Krizman for the correction.

   In related news, costs of the Final Fantasy Movies have officially exceeded $100 million (and unofficially could be as high as $200 million). Threatens producer Sakaguchi: "It's a big gamble. We're confident that we'll succeed, but if we fail, it could do major damage to us as a company and Japan as a whole." Do your part to prevent Japan's total economic collapse: see the Final Fantasy movie when it's released. According to the Hollywood Reporter, that'll be July 2001.