{"id":586340,"date":"2026-04-15T20:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586340\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T20:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:03:19","slug":"val-kilmer-resurrected-by-ai-in-as-deep-as-the-grave-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586340\/","title":{"rendered":"Val Kilmer Resurrected by AI in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ Trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe filmmakers behind \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d have debuted the trailer for the upcoming historical drama, giving viewers a first look at the AI technology that was used to create Val Kilmer<\/a>\u2018s performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tKilmer, who died in 2025 after battling throat cancer, was cast as Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, but was too sick to shoot his role. With the cooperation of Kilmer\u2019s estate and his daughter Mercedes, the \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d team used generative AI to include the actor in the finished film. <\/p>\n

\n\tKilmer pops up numerous times in a trailer first shared on Wednesday at CinemaCon<\/a>, the exhibition industry trade show being held this week in Las Vegas. The footage includes Kilmer at various ages \u2014 at one point, he\u2019s a spectral, ghost-like figure; at another, he\u2019s a dashing, 30-something man of the cloth.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDon\u2019t fear the dead and don\u2019t fear me,\u201d Kilmer tells a child at one point, kneeling down to look her straight in the eyes.<\/p>\n

\n\tCoerte Voorhees, the film\u2019s writer and director, and John Voorhees, the film\u2019s producer and Coerte\u2019s brother, argue that they have found an ethical way to use the controversial technology, because they have worked in concert with Kilmer\u2019s family. They note that the film, which tells the story of Ann Axtell Morris, one of this country\u2019s first female archeologists, and her excavation of the Canyon De Chelly in Arizona, resonated strongly with Kilmer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u201cIt was very much designed around him,\u201d Coerte Voorhees told Variety <\/a>last month. \u201cIt drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest\u2026His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCoerte Voorhees revealed at CinemaCon that Kilmer\u2019s role is substantial and his character will appear in over an hour of the movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are fears in Hollywood that AI will eliminate acting jobs as studios search for ways to cut costs. But the \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d filmmakers insist that they only used the technology out of necessity and a deep desire to include Kilmer in their project. They also note that the production relied on SAG guidelines and compensated Kilmer\u2019s estate for his appearance. The actor\u2019s family provided archival material that the production used to create the performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Mercedes Kilmer said that her father would have wanted to be included in \u201cAs Deep as the Grave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,\u201d Mercedes Kilmer said. \u201cThis spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKilmer\u2019s AI-generated presence will attract a lot of attention for \u201cAs Deep as the Grave,\u201d but the trailer also boasts epic-looking action. There are excavations in dramatic cliffside settings, shots of buffalo running majestically along a plain and images of a car trying to pass through rapids. The ensemble includes Abigail Lawrie,\u00a0Tom Felton,\u00a0Abigail Breslin,\u00a0Tatanka Means,\u00a0Jacob Fortune-Lloyd,\u00a0Wes Studi and\u00a0Finn Jones.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s an exclusive first look at \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The filmmakers behind \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d have debuted the trailer for the upcoming historical drama, giving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[232746,88,206,96183],"class_list":{"0":"post-586340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-cinemacon","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-val-kilmer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}