Tom Hanks says AI could replace him as Woody without his participation

• Toy Story 5 set a franchise record with a $312 million worldwide opening
• Hanks says a sixth film must be 'good, new, fresh' to be worth making
• He warns AI could reconstruct his voice as Woody without his involvement

Tom Hanks has returned as Woody in Toy Story 5, which has shattered franchise records with a $312 million worldwide opening — but the two-time Oscar winner is setting clear conditions on whether he would come back for a sixth instalment.

Hanks told Entertainment Weekly that the bar for another sequel would need to be high. "If you're gonna do another 'Toy Story,' it better be worthwhile," he said. "It better be great. You better be examining some theme that is not just dragging it out because people like the title. I mean, it is a huge corporate business without a doubt, I'm not gonna discount that. But unless it's good, new, fresh, there's no reason to do it at all."

AI could bring Woody back without Hanks

Despite his reservations, Hanks is acutely aware that Disney may not need his consent to proceed. Decades' worth of recorded dialogue as Woody — spanning 31 years of the franchise — means artificial intelligence could theoretically reconstruct his voice and deliver new lines without any physical participation from the actor.

"Time is undefeated," Hanks said. "The question would be whether or not we could cobble together some version of me. Every word we have ever recorded in time in 'Toy Story' is on digital media somewhere, so they could put together anything they would want."

'A scary thought'

Both Hanks and his longtime co-star Tim Allen, who voices Buzz Lightyear, have described that prospect as "a scary thought." The concern is not new for Hanks — during a 2023 appearance on The Adam Buxton Podcast, he spoke at length about how AI and deepfake technology were already blurring the line between a living performer and a digital reconstruction.

He pointed to The Polar Express, Robert Zemeckis' 2004 Christmas film, as the moment the industry first confronted the implications. "The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer — literally what we looked like — was a movie called 'The Polar Express,'" he said.

"We saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. That has only grown a billion-fold since then and we see it everywhere."

'Performances can go on and on'

Hanks went further, noting that the technology now makes it possible for him to pitch films in which he could appear as a 32-year-old. "Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology," he said.

"I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but performances can go on and on and on and on. Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, there'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone. And it's going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That's certainly an artistic challenge but it's also a legal one."

Toy Story 5 is currently playing in cinemas nationwide.