In reading an article about AI, I came upon an interesting story concerning Orson Welles’s film The Magnificent Ambersons. The Magnificent Andersons is a dramatic film, released in 1942, that was director Orson Welles’s much-anticipated follow-up to  Citizen Kane (1941). The film, apparently, is as infamous among film buffs for its production problems as it is famous for its artistic merit.

When a preview audience reacted poorly to the original film, especially its length (about 135 minutes), RKO ordered Welles’s editor, Robert Wise, to cut the film, and it was eventually shortened by nearly 50 minutes. In addition, RKO made assistant director Freddie Fleck and Wise shoot a happier ending. Welles, who was then making a film in Brazil, fought what he saw as the “butchering” of his work but was unable contractually to prevent the changes.

Negatives of the deleted material were later destroyed by RKO, and Welles’s copy of his original cut has never been found. Only stills of the missing scenes remain.

An Amazon-backed AI firm, Showrunner, announced plans in September 2025 to reconstruct the lost 43 minutes of  The Magnificent Ambersons. Using AI, the project aims to blend scripts, stills, and live-action doubles to recreate destroyed footage, though it faces objections from the Welles estate and has no official release plans. Showrunner has stated that they are dedicated to this project to honor Orson Welle’s true vision for the film.

We have the technology to enhance, recreate, and even finish master works. My question is should we?