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A trailer has been released for the first film to star an authorised generative AI version of a major Hollywood actor.
Val Kilmer was cast in western As Deep As the Grave before his death in April 2025. Production delays meant he never shot any scenes, but the creative team worked with UK-based company Sonantic to create an AI speaking voice based on his old recordings.
His estate and daughter Mercedes collaborated with the film-makers on the visual deepfake of the actor. Kilmer, who was diagnosed with throat cancer, was also assisted by technology for his cameo in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
In As Deep As the Grave, Kilmer plays Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, and the trailer – which aired on Wednesday in Las Vegas trade show CinemaCon – indicates that his role is substantial and spans several time periods.
Writer-director Coerte Voorhees confirmed that Kilmer is seen for around an hour of the film’s running time. The trailer shows Fintan as both a young man and an elderly, spectral figure in the trailer, in which he also kneels and tells a child, “Don’t fear the dead and don’t fear me.”
The film co-stars Tom Felton, Abigail Breslin and Abigail Lawrie.
Speaking to Variety in March, Voorhees said the film and its themes were “very much designed around” Kilmer. “It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to, and love of, the south-west.” After his death, Voorhees continues, “his family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this.”
A statement from Mercedes Kilmer said her father “always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honouring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”
Voorhees has said that the production followed Sag-Aftra guidelines, and that Kilmer’s estate – which provided archival material for them to use – was compensated financially.
In 2022, Bruce Willis, who retired from acting after a diagnosis of frontal-temporal dementia, gave his consent to make his digital twin, while actors including Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have licensed the use of their voices to an AI firm for approved productions.
The estates of actors Laurence Olivier, Judy Garland and James Dean have also licensed their voices to the same marketplace, ElevenLabs, while a number of celebrities have sought to outsource some digital meet-and-greets to AI twins.
Paris Hilton and Kendall Jenner are among those who have reportedly signed deals with Meta for use on platforms including Instagram, while for a fee, users can ask an AI version of Deepak Chopra for advice on “everything from sex to spirituality”.
Stars who have expressed more scepticism about the use of deepfake versions of their image and voice include Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson.
