I’m probably definitely going to watch As Deep as the Grave. It’s Val Kilmer.
Even though Kilmer passed away in April 2025 at 65, the actor is “returning” via generative AI to play Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, in a story set in the 1920s.
The film follows archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris (Abigail Lawrie and Tom Felton) as they dig through Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, uncovering the history of the Ancestral Puebloans. Wes Studi, Abigail Breslin, and Finn Jones also star.
This isn’t some studio cash grab either – the role was written specifically for Kilmer years ago by writer-director Coerte Voorhees, inspired by Val’s Southwest roots and Cherokee heritage.
Kilmer was officially cast and ready to shoot, but his battle with throat cancer – and the complications that followed, including a tracheotomy – kept him off set.
His children, Mercedes and Jack, are executive producers and fully on board. They’ve said Val was excited about the story and saw AI as a way to make it happen.
The AI itself is impressive: it combines images of Kilmer from across his life to show him at different ages, while his voice is recreated to match the raspy tone he had after surgery.
Conveniently, Father Fintan has tuberculosis in the script, which helps bridge the gap between the real actor and the AI version.
Of course, the project hasn’t escaped controversy. Some see resurrecting deceased actors digitally as a little “ghoulish,” while others argue it’s just the next step in storytelling – especially since Kilmer himself experimented with AI voice restoration for Top Gun: Maverick back in 2022.
The film is still looking for distribution, but it’s expected to hit screens later in 2026.
For me? AI or not, it’s Val Kilmer. I’ll be watching.
