Val Kilmer has returned to the screen more than a year after his death, but the result is unlikely to make audiences celebrate the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
A newly released seven-minute clip from As Deep as the Grave features a completely AI-generated version of the Top Gun and Tombstone star. Kilmer appears as Father Fintan, a conflicted Catholic priest working among the Navajo people during the 1920s.
Kilmer himself is not listed on the film’s IMDb page. Instead, its cast includes “Digital Performer (Various)” as “Self – Father Fintan (as Val Kilmer).”
Unfortunately, the digital recreation looks less like a final Val Kilmer performance than an unusually elaborate video-game cutscene.
Kilmer’s face and hair appear waxy and unnaturally smooth, while his expressions struggle to match the emotions conveyed by his synthetic voice. His movements possess the floating, weightless quality common to AI-generated video. The longer the camera remains on him, the more obvious it becomes that no human performance exists beneath the imitation.
Val Kilmer Never Filmed the Movie
Kilmer originally agreed to appear in the historical drama before his health prevented him from participating. Production was delayed by the pandemic, and the actor—who underwent two tracheotomies while battling throat cancer—became too ill to work.
Writer and director Coerte Voorhees eventually removed Kilmer’s character from the screenplay. After Kilmer died from pneumonia in April 2025, Voorhees and producer John Voorhees decided to restore the role using generative AI.
An AI Val Kilmer in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ – FirstLine Films, YouTube
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Contrary to some early reports, Kilmer did not film any scenes for the movie. The filmmakers created the performance using photographs supplied by his family, footage from his earlier movies, and recordings of his voice made before his tracheotomy.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the artificial Kilmer appears in approximately one-third of the three-hour film. Voorhees reportedly studied Batman Forever, Tombstone, and Heat while attempting to recreate the actor as he looked during the 1990s.
That distinction matters. Audiences are not seeing Kilmer as he would have appeared if his health had allowed him to perform. Instead, the version appearing on screen is an artificial approximation of the actor in his prime.
Kilmer’s Family Approved the AI Performance
The project cannot fairly be described as an unauthorized exploitation of Kilmer’s likeness. His estate approved the digital recreation, received compensation under SAG-AFTRA guidelines, and supplied the filmmakers with archival material.
Kilmer’s daughter, Mercedes, has also said that her father wanted to participate in the movie and viewed emerging technology as a way to overcome the limitations caused by his illness.
“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” she told Vanity Fair.
An AI Val Kilmer in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ – FirstLine Films, YouTube
That consent makes As Deep as the Grave ethically different from a studio simply digging up a deceased actor to sell tickets. It does not, however, make the finished illusion convincing.
The Vanity Fair report coined a term for the emerging practice: “ghost-ploitation.” Whether it becomes a genre unto itself remains to be seen and may depend on how far AI technology advances. Audience reception will also be a major factor. Many online comments suggest that moviegoers may reject the film because of its use of AI—should it ever secure a release.
AI Cannot Recreate a Human Performance
The most troubling aspect is that the filmmakers expanded Kilmer’s role—including having him speak Navajo—after discovering how cheaply AI could generate new material. Voorhees told Vanity Fair that the technology could allow filmmakers to produce as many as 10 features annually. His brother predicted that traditional filmmaking, with live actors working on physical sets, may become a “niche, bespoke thing.”
Val Kilmer in the documentary film Val – Prime Video, YouTube
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The first footage demonstrates what could be lost in that transition. Kilmer was a magnetic and intensely human performer. This digital creation may wear his face and reproduce his mannerisms, but it cannot replicate the spark that made him so compelling to watch.
As Deep as the Grave does not yet have a distributor or release date. Based on this unsettling first look, AI has not given Kilmer one final performance. It has merely created an imitation that reminds audiences he is gone.
How do you feel about AI being used to bring back Val Kilmer for a final performance? Sound off and let us know!
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