Val Kilmer Appears in New Movie Nearly 1 Year After His Death via AI Technology: 'This Is What He Wanted'

Kimberlee SpeakmanWed, March 18, 2026 at 7:52 PM UTC

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Val Kilmer in generative AI film; Val Kimer in 2019Credit: Courtesy of First Line Films; Rob Kim/Getty -

Val Kilmer, who died in April 2025, is set to appear in the new indie film As Deep as the Grave through state-of-the-art generative AI

The film's director said that the actor had been cast in the movie but was unable to film due to illness, and that he has received permission from Kilmer's estate to use an AI version of the actor's likeness in the movie

Kilmer's daughter Mercedes said that she supports her father’s image in the film, explaining that “he always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling"

Val Kilmer is returning to the big screen after his death.

The actor, who died in April 2025 after being diagnosed with pneumonia, will appear in the new indie film As Deep as the Grave — though he never filmed scenes, according to Variety. The actor’s image and likeness were recreated for the film using state-of-the-art generative AI.

“He was the actor I wanted to play this role,” the film’s writer and director Coerte Voorhees told the outlet. “It was very much designed around him. It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest.”

He said that Kilmer had been cast in the role of Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan and had been excited to take part in the film, but the actor, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, was unable to show up on set due to illness.

“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,” Voorhees recalled to Variety.

“We really figured out that this is a major missing element,” he continued. “Normally, we would just recast an actor. I’m all about working with our actors, and we have brilliant performances all throughout this movie. But we can’t roll camera again. We don’t have the budget… So we had to think of innovative ways to do it. And we realized the technology is there for us.”

AI depiction of Val Kilmer as Southwestern Spiritual Leader Father Fintan in 'As Deep as the Grave'Credit: Courtesy of First Line Films

In order to make his likeness for the film, they used younger images of Kilmer — some of which had been provided by the late actor’s family — along with footage from his final years to depict the various stages of life his character goes through. They also recreated his voice, which had been altered by a tracheostomy he received shortly after his diagnosis.

The director noted that the historical character in his film and the Top Gun actor had several similarities healthwise as well, including navigating throat cancer.

“And so when it comes to the voice, this is a really unique opportunity for the character to reflect [on] the condition that the actor was actually suffering from, thus creating a kind of a bridge,” he explained.

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Val Kilmer in 2019Credit: Rob Kim/Getty

Voorhees also revealed to Variety that the film team had received permission from Kilmer’s estate to use the Batman Forever star’s image and voice in the film. They said that his estate was compensated for the actor being in the movie according to SAG guidelines.

“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” the director said.

“He really thought it was [an] important story that he wanted his name on,” he continued. “It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, 'Okay, let’s do this.' Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”

Kilmer’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, 34, also shared her support for her father’s image being used in the film, adding that her father was “a deeply spiritual man” who resonated with a “story of discovery and enlightenment” set in the American Southwest, which was the film’s premise.

“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” Mercedes told Variety. “This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”

Val Kilmer in 2019Credit: EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty

Kilmer was no stranger to using AI. He previously worked with Sonantic, a U.K.-based software firm that clones voices, in order to help create a model to help him speak again using an AI-version of his voice.

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This technology was even featured in his scene in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. The actor was heavily involved with the development of the AI prototype and worked closely with Sonantic to provide archival footage of his voice to create the model, per The Wrap.

As Deep as the Grave also stars Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton, Wes Studi and Abigail Breslin.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”