Disney briefly explored integrating advanced AI technology into two major upcoming live-action films—Moana and Tron: Ares—only to ultimately scrap both initiatives due to legal, creative, and ethical concerns.

Disney would then work with AI company Metaphysic to layer an AI-generated deepfake of Johnson’s face over his similarly-built cousin, a plan that Johnson approved and which would have enabled him to skip actually coming to set on “certain days.