Val Kilmer returns via AI as filmmakers test Hollywood's red line

Las Vegas: The first images of late American film star Val Kilmer returning to the big screen courtesy of artificial intelligence were unveiled Wednesday in Las Vegas, in what will likely stir debate over the technology's role in Hollywood.

A youthful, digital version of Kilmer appears in the trailer for "As Deep as the Grave", telling another character: "Don't fear the dead and don't fear me."

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The footage premiered at CinemaCon, the annual conference where studios present upcoming releases to movie theater owners.

Brothers Coerte and John Voorhees, director and producer of the film, said they hope to release the historical drama by the end of the year.

Kilmer, best known for his roles in "Top Gun," "Batman Forever" and "The Doors," died of pneumonia in April 2025 at the age of 65.

The project drew headlines last month when the filmmakers revealed they had recreated the actor using AI with the consent of his family.

The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods.

"As Deep as the Grave" follows pioneering archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris - the latter credited by some with helping inspire the fictional Indiana Jones - and originally cast Kilmer before the coronavirus pandemic to play a Catholic priest.

Health problems forced Kilmer, who was battling cancer, to step away from the role. But after pandemic delays, the Voorheeses revisited the project as AI technology advanced.

They recast Kilmer digitally as Father Fintan, an early Catholic missionary suffering from tuberculosis who, like many at the time, traveled to the US southwest for the dry climate and opened missions in the Four Corners region.

"It was a very dark time," Coerte said, adding that the character was central to the story.

The filmmakers said they approached Kilmer's children, Mercedes and Jack, after concluding the role could still be realized.

The family gave its approval and granted access to Kilmer's video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life.

Val Kilmer had spoken to his children before his death about his legacy and what he wished he could still accomplish as an actor, the brothers said.

"We were so glad they were excited and so supportive of the idea," Coerte added.

Painstaking

The Voorheeses did not detail the technical process behind their film, but said digitally reviving Kilmer was a "painstaking process."

"Just like any artistic endeavour, you spend a lot of time drafting and redrafting," John Voorhees said, so the performance feels faithful to how he might have done it.

They conceded the project could unsettle some people, but stressed that they followed SAG-AFTRA guidelines, which rest on what the union calls the three Cs: consent, compensation and collaboration.

"Following this process, working with the family... we can actually demonstrate the right way to do it," Coerte told AFP.

"We believe artists will galvanize around that and take control back, because it's not in the hands of the artists right now. It's actually... a free-for-all," he added.