Val Kilmer is set to be digitally resurrected using artificial intelligence for the upcoming drama As Deep As the Grave, a move that has sparked debate but is defended by the film's director and the late actor's family. Kilmer, who died last year at age 65, was attached to the project before his death from throat cancer.
The film tells the true story of 1920s archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris, who worked with the Navajo people to uncover the Ancestral Puebloan civilization. Kilmer was cast as Father Fintan, a Native American spiritualist and Catholic priest, a role designed around his advocacy for Native American rights and his claimed Cherokee heritage.
Director and writer Coerte Voorhees told Variety that Kilmer was unable to film due to his illness, but his estate and his children, Mercedes and Jack, support using generative AI to bring him back on screen. “His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” Voorhees said.
The AI version of Kilmer will appear in a significant portion of the film, using images from throughout his life to recreate him at different ages. The film also stars Tom Felton, Abigail Lawrie, Wes Studi, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd. Voorhees acknowledged the controversy but insisted, “This is what Val wanted.”
