Metaphysic, The Company That De-Aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in ‘Here,’ Acquired by DNEG’s AI Arm

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Metaphysic, the innovative AI company that provided the technology to make Tom Hanks and Robin Wright appear younger or older in the movie “Here” directed by Robert Zemeckis, has been bought by Brahma, the AI arm of DNEG Group. The aim is to speed up the advancement of their artificial intelligence technology. The financial details of the acquisition were not revealed.

DNEG Group, a privately-owned corporation, oversees several subsidiaries. Among them are DNEG, a VFX powerhouse recognized with a BAFTA award recently and nominated for an Oscar in VFX for “Dune: Part Two”; Prime Focus, creators of the Clear asset management system; and Ziva, a company specializing in 3D character development, which DNEG acquired last year.

2024 saw the unveiling of Brahma, a project backed by a $200 million investment from United Al Saqer Group, an investor based in Abu Dhabi, into the DNEG Group. This acquisition of Metaphysic is geared towards accelerating Brahma’s ambition to develop AI-driven tools for content creators across various sectors, with the aim of producing high-quality content efficiently.

As per the recent announcement, UASG and DNEG Group plan to inject an additional $25 million into Brahma. Under the terms of the deal, Metaphysic’s current investors such as Liberty Global, S32, TO Ventures, and 8VC will become shareholders in Brahma. In this announcement, DNEG Group, a privately-held entity, has estimated Brahma’s worth after the transaction to be approximately $1.43 billion.

Last week, Metaphysic’s project titled “Here” received a Visual Effects Society Award in the category for emerging technology. Its innovative tools and services have been utilized to transform actor Lee Perry into the likeness of Richard Carter, who portrayed the Bullet Farmer in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Previously, they were employed during the production of “Alien: Romulus,” a VFX-nominated film, to create the image of the late Ian Holmes, who starred in the original “Alien” from 1979.

Namit Malhotra, founder and CEO of DNEG Group, explained to EbMaster that Brahma, their UK-based company, collaborates extensively with all its sister firms, including special effects company DNEG. Additionally, Brahma will incorporate visual effects technology developed by DNEG, which has showcased its expertise in films such as Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” “Interstellar,” and “Tenet,” that have won VFX Oscars. Malhotra emphasized that productions need not be DNEG VFX clients to access the Metaphysic tools and services provided by Brahma.

As I pen this critique, I’m excited to share that, according to my sources, the talented Metaphysic crew is set to stay put within our beloved company. A significant change is brewing on the horizon, as Thomas Graham, our current CEO, will ascend to the position of President under the dynamic leadership of Brahma. This strategic move appears to be paving the way for Graham’s transition into the role of CEO in the near future.

The leadership team under Brahma is spearheaded by the Executive Chairman, Prabhu Narasimhan, while Malhotra is temporarily holding the position of acting CEO.

In a recent announcement, Brahma’s executive chairman Prabhu Narasimhan stated that they are combining DNEG’s award-winning visual effects and animation tools with the potent capabilities of generative AI. This union aims to produce a collection of AI content products, which we anticipate will set the standard in the industry for the most advanced photorealistic AI video creator.

Graham further commented, “Combining the exceptional talents from Brahma and Metaphysic will allow us to develop an operating system for AI-generated content. This system ensures your intellectual property is protected while creating new income streams through a range of products delivering top-notch Hollywood-style content and experiences at unparalleled levels of scale.

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2025-02-18 19:17