Producers unveiled last Wednesday (15) the trailer for “As Deep as the Grave”, revealing the first images of Val Kilmer’s return to theaters using artificial intelligence (AI).
The trailer was presented during CinemaCon in Las Vegas (USA). In the video, a young Val Kilmer can be heard saying to another character: “Do not fear the dead, and do not fear me.” The film, directed and produced by the Voorhees brothers, is scheduled to premiere in late 2026.
Kilmer died of pneumonia in April 2025 at the age of 65. The actor had been cast as a Catholic priest in the film before the Covid-19 pandemic but ultimately withdrew from the role due to health issues.
After a pause caused by the pandemic, the Voorhees brothers turned to technological advances to bring Kilmer back as Father Fintan, who, according to Coerte, suffered from tuberculosis and settled in the southwestern United States, where he founded several missions.
After contacting Mercedes and Jack, Kilmer’s children, the brothers obtained permission and access to the actor’s video archive, which served as the basis to recreate his image using artificial intelligence.
For his lines, they used audio files from a company that applied artificial intelligence to reconstruct the actor’s voice, which had been affected by cancer treatment, in the scene where he acted alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), marking Kilmer’s final film role.
Although they did not provide many details about the process, the Voorhees brothers admitted it was “labor-intensive.” They also acknowledged that the topic remains highly controversial within the artistic community but emphasized that they followed the guidelines of the actors’ union (SAG-AFTRA), known as the three Cs: consent, compensation, and collaboration.
“By following this process and working with the family, we can truly show the right way to do this. And we believe artists will rally around this and take back control, because it’s not in their hands right now,” Coerte told AFP.
+ Click here to watch the trailer
Photo and video: YouTube @IGNMovieTrailers. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
