Val Kilmer film branded ‘the most disgusting thing’ as he’s resurrected in trailer

Outrage has been sparked by the trailer for a new film starring the late Val Kilmer in which his presence and performance is entirely AI-generated.

The star appears in upcoming movie As Deep As the Grave from writer-director Coerte Voorhees, alongside Harry Potter star Tom Felton, Abigail Lawrie, Abigail Breslin, Wes Studi and Killers of the Flower Moon’s Tatanka Means.

The film follows real-life archaeologist couple Ann (Lawrie) and Earl Morris (Felton) and their discovery of the unearthed Ancestral Puebloans remains in the 1920s.

Kilmer, who died in April 2025 aged 65 from pneunonia after a long battle with throat cancer, had been cast as Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, before his death.

However, he was ultimately too ill to ever shoot any of his scenes and so Voorhees, with the support of Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes, opted to digitally create his performance in full for the film.

The Batman Forever actor is glimpsed throughout the atmospheric trailer, launched at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, as both a young, middle-aged and older version of his character, before his likeness declares at the end, as the camera hovers on his AI-generated face: ‘Don’t fear the dead, and don’t fear me.’

Twilight actor Jackson Rathbone was one of the most vocal critics of As Deep As the Grave’s choice, tagging US actors’ union Sag-Aftra and tweeting: ‘About that strike we had… You owe us an explanation. This is cool? Wtf.’

He then added of the ‘gross’ trailer, addressing Kilmer’s daughter directly: ‘Mercedes… I’m sorry for your loss, but this move begs the question… are you sorry for your loss? Or are you capitalising on your father’s death for your own financial gain? This is truly the MOST disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,’ commented Michael Mrucz underneath the trailer, while another fan asked: ‘How can they label the movie as starring Val Kilmer when that is not actually Val Kilmer? Shouldn’t there be an asterisk or label like “AI Val Kilmer” to differentiate?’

‘Theatres shouldn’t screen this,’ insisted another commenter as others argued that it felt ‘immoral and obscene’, even if Kilmer and his family gave consent.

‘I mean, one has to wonder: did NOBODY involved think “hey, maybe we should draw the line when we reach NECROMANCY”?’ asked a horrified Redditor as other people agreed they’d refuse to watch a film with an AI actor.

‘I hope this fails so hard that other studios are scared to try it again. Biggest, most judgmental “YIKES”,’ added someone else.

Until now, Kilmer’s last role had been in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, where he made an emotional return to his iconic role as Iceman opposite original star Tom Cruise. For that film, AI was used to help recreate the actor’s old speaking voice.

‘When Val came onboard the project five years ago, he immediately identified with the historical southwestern spiritual character of Father Fintan, and understood the importance of elevating awareness of Ann Morris’ incredible story as the first female archaeologist in North America,’ filmmaker Voorhees said in a previous statement to Variety.

‘It was very unfortunate that his health at the time prevented him from playing this role which spoke to him spiritually and culturally.’

Kilmer’s daughter added: ‘He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.’

Producer John Vorhees repeated those reassurances to Entertainment Tonight at Wednesday’s CinemaCon presentation: ‘This is a character Val wanted to play, he was really clear about that before he passed and he spoke with his children about this, about continuing his legacy beyond his life.’

‘I think as long are families are okay, most people believe there shouldn’t be a problem,’ suggested Coerte Voorhees.

‘We really believe we need to prove the ethical, correct way to do this as an artistic endeavour,’ his producer brother John continued.

‘We currently have a free-for-all on the internet and all these places. With consent, compensation and collaboration – those are the three ‘C’s of what Sag-Aftra’s put forward -this is the way to do it and we believe we’re demonstrating that with our film.’

As Deep As the Grave is yet to confirm a release date.

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