Val Kilmer’s AI performance in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ makes debut with trailer

An AI-generated image of Val Kilmer appears front and center in the trailer for the upcoming film Deep as a grave.

Writer-director Corti Voorhees’ feature debuted at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Abigail Laurie, Tom Felton, and Abigail Breslin round out the indie film’s cast.

Deep as a grave The film follows real-life archaeologists Anne (Lowery) and Earl Morris (Felton), who discover the remains of their Pueblo ancestors in the 1920s.

Kilmer’s likeness can be seen portraying Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist. “Don’t be afraid of the dead, don’t be afraid of me,” his likeness says in the trailer.

the Top Gun and Batman forever The actor, who died in April 2025 at the age of 65 after a long battle with throat cancer, had been involved in the film before his death but was not well enough to film his scenes. As stated in a statement from production company First Line Films, Voorhees chose to create Kilmer’s performance digitally with the support of the late star’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer.

“When Val joined the project five years ago, he immediately identified with the historical Southwestern spiritual figure of Father Fintan, and recognized the importance of raising awareness of Anne Morris’ incredible story as North America’s first female archaeologist,” Voorhees said in a previous statement. “It is unfortunate that his health at the time prevented him from playing this role that spoke to him spiritually and culturally.”

Mercedes Kilmer added in a statement about her father: “He always viewed emerging technologies optimistically as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. That spirit is something we all honor in this particular film, of which he was an integral part.”

The use of artificial intelligence in Hollywood has become a hotly debated topic as recent legislation sought to protect digital images of actors after their death. News of AI-created actor Tilly Norwood has led to criticism from industry members, including SAG-AFTRA.

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