AI Resurrects Val Kilmer in 'As Deep as the Grave'

0:00On April 29th, Mercedes Kilmer is standing up for using AI to bring back her late dad Val Kilmer in the indie flick as deep as the grave. Val passed in 2025 from throat cancer he'd fought since 2014 and he was too sick to film his role. His estate and Mercedes greenlit the tech to recreate his look and voice, making it official. This isn't the first time. Back in 2022, Val teamed with a UK company for an AI voice to play Iceman again in Top Gun Maverick when his health made talking tough. It started as a workaround for his illness, but turned into a way for him to shape how actors handled this stuff. Fans are split on it, Mercedes hit the today show saying folks on shaky ground in Hollywood see AI as a job killer, and that's fair. Younger artists like her musician friends freak out too. But established pros cheer it as a smart move to lock down ownership of their image. The film's writer director, Korate Vorheiz, built the part just for Val and was gutted when health derailed shooting.

1:01The family pushed hard, saying Val loved the story and wanted his name on it. That gave the green light to go AI despite the buzz. In the end, Mercedes says her dad always eyed new tech like this with hope, using it to push storytelling further. The family honored that vibe by making him part of the movie he cared about. Entertainment and celebrity news today, power by AI bringing you what's trending.