{"id":394538,"date":"2026-04-16T03:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T03:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/394538\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T03:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T03:08:12","slug":"ai-generated-val-kilmer-stars-in-as-deep-as-the-grave-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/394538\/","title":{"rendered":"AI-Generated Val Kilmer Stars in \u2018As Deep as the Grave\u2019 Trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn the trailer<\/a> for the upcoming historical biopic\u00a0As Deep as the Grave, Val Kilmer\u2018s likeness appears in startling detail. In one scene, portraying Father Fintan \u2014 a Native American spiritualist and Catholic priest \u2014 the late actor\u2019s likeness crouches down toward a child and sagely advises, \u201cDon\u2019t fear the dead, and don\u2019t fear me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s an uncanny realism to his AI-generated character\u2019s perfectly swept blonde hair, meticulously placed sun spots, and deep-set wrinkles in the clip, which might prompt viewers to question just how much of the film is AI-assisted. The film centers on the lives of archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris (played by Abigail Lawrie and Tom Felton, respectively), who excavated the Canyon De Chelly in Arizona. The trailer features dramatic scenes of people dangling from cliffs and an explosive avalanche. While what\u2019s real \u2014 and isn\u2019t \u2014 is sure to be discussed upon the film\u2019s full release, Kilmer\u2019s performance was digitally created with the support of Kilmer\u2019s estate and his daughter Mercedes.<\/p>\n

\n\tKilmer\u00a0died on April 1, 2025<\/a>, after an extended battle with throat cancer. While the actor had been cast as Father Fintan, he was never able to make it on set due to his health struggles.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen Val came on board the project five years ago, he immediately identified with the historical Southwestern spiritual character of Father Fintan, and understood the importance of elevating awareness of Ann Morris\u2019 incredible story as the first female archaeologist in North America,\u201d Coerte Voorhees, the director, writer, and producer of\u00a0As Deep as the Grave,\u00a0previously said in a press release. <\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tMercedes emphasized the significance of her father\u2019s role, and in a statement said that he was a \u201cdeeply spiritual man, and this story of discovery and enlightenment in the American Southwest, and his unique role in it, really resonated with him.\u201d She added, \u201cHe always looked at emerging technologies with optimism, as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAI has caused tectonic shifts in the film industry <\/a>and has caused panic among those in the industry to warn that it is already replacing valuable jobs in Hollywood. The technology has already been used in many films, from a de-aged Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to a younger Mark Hamill in the Mandalorian to James Dean returning to the screen in Back to Eden<\/a>, nearly 70 years after his death. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the trailer for the upcoming historical biopic\u00a0As Deep as the Grave, Val Kilmer\u2018s likeness appears in startling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,85,46,125,6407,187531],"class_list":{"0":"post-394538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-trailer","15":"tag-van-kilmer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}