After his death in 2025, actor Val Kilmer returns to the big screen thanks to generative artificial intelligence, which recreated its presence for the film “As Deep as the Grave”which will premiere in the coming months of 2026.
Its creators, the brothers Coerte and John Voorhees, presented the first trailer for this production during CinemaCon 2026, recently held in Las Vegas.
Years before his death, Val Kilmer would have chosen the role of Father Fintana Native American Catholic priest and spiritualistlinked to Mission San Juan, in Farmington, New Mexico. However, when it came time to film, in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Kilmer had to withdraw due to his deteriorating health.
Val Kilmer died in 2025, aged 65.due to pneumonia, after a long battle against throat cancer. The filmmakers continued filming without his character, rather than finding another actor, but then realized that the story didn’t work without him.
“Unfortunately, his health at the time prevented him from playing this role, which had spiritual and cultural meaning for him. We are honored to collaborate with his daughter Mercedes, who brings her own cinematic experience, to bring this character to life as we had originally imagined him.“Coerte told international media.
The actor’s family, headed by his children Mercedes and Jack Kilmer, He authorized the use of his image and provided material, such as recordings, photographs and videos, to construct the digital recreation of his father.
In different scenes, The actor appears in various stages of his life: in some, younger, and in others, as an adultbased on images provided by his family and taken from his latest film works.
“Don’t be afraid of the dead. And don’t be afraid of me,” Kilmer says at the end of the trailer, his voice and face digitally generated.
The production tells the true story of Ann Morris, one of the country’s first archaeologists, and her excavation in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, in her attempt to trace the history of the Navajo people. Although the release date has not yet been announced, it is expected to be in the coming months of 2026.
Kilmer became a charismatic Hollywood actor thanks to iconic roles such as Jim Morrison in The DoorsBatman in Batman Forever, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in top gun and Nick Rivers in Top Secret.