A new trailer has offered the first glimpse of Val Kilmer’s AI likeness as it will appear in the upcoming Coerte Voorhees film As Deep as the Grave.
Kilmer was cast to play Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan in 2020, but he was unable to shoot due to health issues from throat cancer, which he had been diagnosed with in 2014. He had a tracheotomy, which resulted in the loss of his voice. AI was previously used to recreate Kilmer’s voice for his appearance in Top Gun: Maverick.
Kilmer died in April 2025 at the age of 65 from pneumonia.
As Deep as the Grave, which was previously titled Canyon del Muerto, tells the real-life story of early archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris, played by Abigail Lawrie and Tom Felton, as they work in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, while engaging with Navajo history and culture.
The trailer features Kilmer in various stages of his life, and includes a moment where he tells a child: “Don’t fear the dead and don’t fear me.”
The first two comments on the YouTube link for the trailer illustrated divided opinions over AI. While one user wrote: “Technology done right. Can't wait!” another added: “Yikes. Kilmer isn't even lip synced right.”
The late actor’s daughter Mercedes Kilmer said in a previous statement that her father was “a deeply spiritual man” and the film’s “story of discovery and enlightenment” resonated with him.
“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” she said. “This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”
According to The New York Times, Voorhees approached Mercedes last year about the possibility of using AI to create a version of her father for the film.
A previous version left out Kilmer’s character, which he felt was a “major missing element.”
The new version is expected to be released this year.
There’s an ongoing debate over using AI to create likenesses of actors or replace living performers with AI actors. However, several films have been using digital tools to complete their projects when actors are unable to finish filming.
Paul Walker’s scenes in Furious 7 (2015) were recreated using CGI and body doubles after the actor died in a car crash during production, with his brothers standing in for him. In September last year, multiple Hollywood stars spoke in protest after an “AI actress” named Tilly Norwood attracted major agency interest.
The 2023 strike by SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, was partly related to concerns over the rise of AI in filmmaking.
Over the last decade, the movie and television industry has found several uses for AI, from de-ageing actors and analyzing patterns and behaviors of viewers on streaming platforms, to bringing back the voices of late actors and even helping stitch together entire movie trailers.
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