'As Deep as the Grave' makers use AI to include late actor Val Kilmer's role in film

Washington DC [US April 16 : The makers have released the trailer of 'As Deep as the Grave', offering a glimpse at the AI technology that was used to create Val Kilmer's performance, reported Variety.

Kilmer, who died in 2025 after battling throat cancer, was cast as Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, but was too sick to shoot his role. With the cooperation of Kilmer's estate and his daughter Mercedes, the 'As Deep as the Grave' team used generative AI to include the actor in the finished film, reported Variety.

The trailer was first showcased at the CinemaCon, which showcased Kilmer at various ages, at one point, he's a spectral, ghost-like figure; at another, he's a dashing, 30-something man of the cloth.

"Don't fear the dead and don't fear me," Kilmer tells a child at one point, kneeling down to look her straight in the eyes.

The film is written and directed by Coerte Voorhees and produced by his brother, John Voorhees. The duo argue that they have found an ethical way to use the controversial technology because they have worked in concert with Kilmer's family.

They note that the film, which tells the story of Ann Axtell Morris, one of this country's first female archaeologists, and her excavation of the Canyon De Chelly in Arizona, resonated strongly with Kilmer.

"It was very much designed around him," Coerte Voorhees told Variety last month. "It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest. His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this."

Coerte Voorhees revealed at CinemaCon that Kilmer's role is substantial and his character will appear in over an hour of the movie.

In a statement, Mercedes Kilmer said that her father would have wanted to be included in "As Deep as the Grave," reported Variety.

"He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling," Mercedes Kilmer said.

"This spirit is something that we are all honouring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part," added Mercedes as quoted by Variety.

Apart from the lead cast, the film also stars Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton, Abigail Breslin, Tatanka Means, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Wes Studi and Finn Jones.

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