will be coming back to life for his final role through AI one year.
The Hollywood star died at the age of 65 on April 1, 2025 but had already signed on to star in As Deep as the Grave.
However unfortunately due to poor health, he was unable to film, but filmmakers decided on using AI to see Kilmer portray Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan.
Kilmer's estate and his two children - Mercedes and Jack - gave their blessing to use generative AI using younger images and footage of his final years, much of which was provided by his family.
'His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this. He really thought it was an important story that he wanted his name on.
'It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, okay let’s do this. Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted,' writer and director Coerte Voorhees told Variety.
Val Kilmer (pictured January 2014) will be coming back to life for his final role through AI one year after his death from throat cancer
Variety also published the first AI generated image of Kilmer in the film.
His daughter also provided a statement to the publication to show her support for the move as she said: 'He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling.
The Hollywood star (pictured July 2019) died at the age of 65 on April 1, 2025 but had already signed on to star in As Deep as the Grave
Kilmer's estate and his two children - Mercedes and Jack - gave their blessing to use generative AI using younger images and footage of his final years, much of which was provided by his family (Mercedes and Val are seen in LA November 2019)
The iconic film star, known for hits including Top Gun (seen in 1986) and Batman, died from pneumonia on April 1, 2025
Following the sad news of his death, his poignant final film appearance in alongside reemerged online.
