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James Earl Jones’s estate licensed the Darth Vader voice in perpetuity to Disney…

2026-07-28 · 16:14 UTC ·@theallinpod ·1 min read

Brief

Darth Vader’s AI voice: James Earl Jones’s estate licensed the Darth Vader voice in perpetuity to Disney ($DIS) before his death. Disney and the estate then worked with ElevenLabs (CEO Mati) to implement an AI voice in Fortnite, where players who reach a certain stage can interact live with Vader to solve missions, illustrating a new revenue model for likeness extension.

Why it matters

James Earl Jones’s estate licensed the Darth Vader voice in perpetuity to Disney ($DIS) before his death, securing a long-term, 'for all time' deal for the character’s vocal likeness.

Key details

  • Disney and the estate partnered with ElevenLabs (CEO Mati) to deploy an AI recreation of Vader in gaming—Fortnite launched an experience where players who reach a certain stage can interact live with Darth Vader to help solve missions, illustrating a new revenue stream for likeness extension.
Source evidence

The Incredible Deal Behind Darth Vader’s AI Voice

AI is making iconic characters immortal and giving creators a brand new revenue stream

@Jason:

“The estate of James Earl Jones, before he passed, did a deal with $DIS and he said, ‘Listen, for my family, I would like to license the Darth Vader voice for all time to Disney.’

They gave him some incredible deal, and then they were left with, ‘Well, how do we actually do this? Do we get a voice impersonator?’

But instead they went to you.”

@ElevenLabs CEO @mati:

“The big use case, a completely new experience, was in the gaming space where Fortnite launched Darth Vader, which people and players could interact with, live in partnership with the estate and in partnership with Disney.

So every player, after reaching a certain stage, could have a Darth Vader interact and help you solve the missions.

And we are seeing that kind of mode coming up more and more often of how you can effectively extend your likeness.”

Thanks to our partners for making this possible!

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