Val Kilmer’s fans will be able to watch the actor perform onscreen again, more than a year after his death, thanks to pioneering use of AI technology.
The late actor will star as a Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist who was a historical figure at the San Juan Mission in New Mexico, in “As Deep as the Grave,” the upcoming film by writer and director Coerte Voorhees, First Line Films announced in a press release.
Val Kilmer’s role in the movie, which is scheduled to be released later this year, is being heralded as the first movie performance enabled by generative AI, according to the press release.
Voorhees revealed he originally cast Val Kilmer, who died of pneumonia in April 2025 at the age of 65, as Father Fintan five years ago.
“When Val came onboard the project five years ago, he immediately identified with the historical southwestern spiritual character of Father Fintan, and understood the importance of elevating awareness of Ann Morris’s incredible story as the first female archaeologist in North America,” Voorhees said in the press release. “It was very unfortunate that his health at the time prevented him from playing this role which spoke to him spiritually and culturally.”
Voorhees added, “We are honored to collaborate with his daughter Mercedes, who brings her own filmmaking experience, to bring this character to life in the way that we had all originally imagined it.”
A statement from Mercedes Kilmer was also included.
“My father was a deeply spiritual man and this story of discovery and enlightenment in the American Southwest and his unique role in it really resonated with him,” she said in the press release.
The late actor’s daughter said her father would be pleased to appear in AI form in the movie, which depicts the excavations of southwestern archaeologists Ann Morris (Abigail Lawrie) and Earl Morris (Tom Felton) in Canyon De Chelly in Arizona while shining a light on the history of the Navajo people.
“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part,” Mercedes Kilmer continued.
Voorhees told Variety Val Kilmer was too sick with throat cancer when he was cast.
“He was the actor I wanted to play this role. It was very much designed around him,” said Voorhees. “I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot. He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn’t do it.”
Though Val Kilmer never actually shot a scene for the movie, Voorhees said he received the blessing of Val Kilmer’s estate and his daughter to use generative AI so that the actor could remain a part of the project.
“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” Voorhees told Variety.
The director acknowledged that including the late actor in the movie might be considered “controversial,” but he reiterated “this is what Val wanted.”
During his critically lauded career, Val Kilmer demonstrated his acting range in movies as diverse as “Real Genius,” “Top Gun,” “The Doors,” “Heat,” “Tombstone” and “Batman Forever.”
Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. Though he recovered, the cancer forced him to undergo a tracheostomy, which affected his ability to speak.
He initially kept his diagnosis a secret and later used a voice box to narrate his life story in the 2021 documentary “Val.”
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