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Val Kilmer is to posthumously appear in an action-adventure film, a year after his death from pneumonia.
The company behind the movie, First Line Films, say it is the first-ever performance enabled by generative artificial intelligence.
The Top Gun star was originally cast in As Deep As The Grave five years ago but had been unable to work on set due to illness.
He will play Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan. Kilmer previously claimed Cherokee ancestry and was a vocal supporter of Native American rights.
The filmmakers say they have worked closely with Kilmer’s estate and his daughter, Mercedes.
They said in a press release: “At the time that he was cast, Kilmer expressed that the character of Fintan spoke to him both culturally and spiritually.”
Written and directed by Coloradan Coerte Voorhees, the film follows southwestern archaeologists Ann Morris, played by Tin Star actress Abigail Lawrie, and Harry Potter star Tom Felton.
It focuses on their excavations in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, also exploring the lives of the Navajo people.
First Line Films, which is based in New Mexico, has not revealed what technology it will be using, but described it as “state-of-the-art generative AI technology”.
In 2021, Kilmer used the AI voice platform Sonantic to develop an AI-generated version of his voice, which was permanently damaged after undergoing a tracheostomy for throat cancer.
It used archival audio Kilmer provided, and was used in the Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Kilmer reprised his famous Iceman role.
As Deep as the Grave uses Kilmer’s voice from after his tracheostomy.
The movie, which is in post-production, is expected to be released later this…
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