US EditionAn AI-generated version of the late Val Kilmer is starring in a new movie
Val Kilmer’s estate approved AI to recreate his voice and likeness for a significant role in As Deep as the Grave, using images and footage from his younger years.
- Kilmer's estate and family supported filmmakers' use of AI to include him in As Deep as the Grave, with Kilmer being recreated after his death last year.
- Five years before his death, Val Kilmer was cast but too ill from throat cancer to film, and COVID pandemic delays stretched As Deep as the Grave’s indie production to six years.
- The filmmakers combined younger images from Kilmer's family with footage from his final years and used AI-generated audio reflecting his damaged vocal condition, enabled by Sonantic.
- The filmmakers say they followed SAG guidelines and compensated Kilmer's estate, while producers are seeking distribution with hopes of releasing the film this year amid possible industry criticism.
- As an industry context, archival recreations have precedent, with Carrie Fisher's 2019 scenes and 'Tilly Norwood' prompting union criticism earlier this month, while Kilmer's death last year at age 65 frames this AI work as part of his legacy.
118 Articles
118 Articles
A photorealistic, AI-generated replica of Val Kilmer, the actor from "Top Gun," "Batman Forever," and "Heat" who passed away from throat cancer last year, will appear in a new feature film he planned to shoot before being hampered by the illness. Coerte Voorhees, the film's writer and director, stated that the AI replica was created in collaboration with Kilmer's heirs and will appear in a large part of "As Deep as the Grave," which tells the s…
His daughter has given permission for a digital replica of her father, who had signed up for the role before his death.
"Top Gun" star Val Kilmer died last year. Nevertheless, he will now play in a new film for which he never stood in front of the camera - thanks to artificial intelligence.
Val Kilmer, who died in April 2025, will reappear in a film thanks to artificial generative intelligence. Top Gun and Batman Forever will fulfill his contract, posthumously, with a role in As Deep as the Grave, as announced by the producer of the film First Line Films. Kilmer's version will play a Catholic priest, as it appeared in the original script that he could not film because by then he was already very sick of the throat cancer he suffere…
The family of Val Kilmer, an American actor ("Batman", "Top Gun"...) who died last year, gave his permission to a director to recreate his image in a forthcoming film thanks to artificial intelligence.
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