Not only is there an AI Val Kilmer in a new film, outraging many fans, but it looks like there was more AI use [View all]

[highplainsdem]

The trailer is below. I thought as soon as I saw it that the decision to make an AI puppet of Kilmer couldn't be the only use of AI in this film. Most of the comments under various copies of the trailer posted on YouTube are negative.

From Mashable:

Val Kilmer AI deepfake in 'As Deep as the Grave' trailer sparks outrage
https://mashable.com/video/val-kilmer-ai-deepfake-deep-as-grave-trailer

Val Kilmer AI deepfake film As Deep as the Grave has just released its first trailer. The internet has responded with overwhelming disgust.

A widely recognised actor known for his roles in films such as Top Gun, Batman Forever, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kilmer died from pneumonia last April at 65 years old. Upcoming film As Deep as the Grave has now used generative AI to create a digital puppet in Kilmer's likeness, having it portray a character appearing in "a significant part" of the historical film.

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"Very fitting that this trailer includes a scene where a corpse is unceremoniously yanked out of the ground," read one of the top comments on As Deep as the Grave's trailer at time of writing.

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Writer and director Coerte Voorhees told Variety that he chose to use AI rather than recast the role due to budget constraints, and that Kilmer's children gave the project their blessing. Even so, online commenters have labelled it disgusting and disrespectful, not only for digitally reanimating Kilmer but also for the damaging precedent As Deep as the Grave's use of AI could set for the film industry as a whole.

From AV Club:

It's ghoulish puppet show time as Val Kilmer "appears" in As Deep As The Grave trailer
https://www.avclub.com/val-kilmer-as-deep-as-the-grave-ai-trailer

The creators of new historical film As Deep As The Grave pretty clearly know exactly what they’re doing. After all, they deliberately chose to end the new teaser trailer for their movie, which aired at CinemaCon this week, with the most obnoxiously straightforward statement of purpose possible: A clear shot of their AI simulacrum of the late Val Kilmer, all but looking directly into camera while whispering “Don’t fear the dead, and don’t fear me.” We’ll say this for the move: It’s at least honestly grotesque.

The Kilmer puppet is all over the trailer, actually, appearing in a guise resembling both the actor’s younger self and one closer to his death last year at the age of 65. And he is accompanied (per Variety) by a whole host of disclaimers, caveats, and explanations offered by writer-director Coerte Voorhees and his associates: Kilmer deeply wanted to be in the movie, but was too sick to do so. His family endorses and supports his inclusion. He was a big fan of technology, including, presumably, its use in turning his own image into a digital avatar to then shove into movies. Honestly, if you listen to the team desperately trying to sell this narrative, you’re kind of a jerk if you don’t treat Voorhees and company puppeteering his grim visage across the screen as a respectful tribute to a beloved Hollywood legend.

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That article concludes that "once you create a puppet of a famous dead person and then parade it around on stage, the taste it leaves in the mouth overwhelms and obliterates everything else."

And many of the 50+ comments on that article and the trailer seem to agree. A few examples:

The whole thing is full of terrible AI shots, not just Kilmer's face.

I guess having the approval of the family (and allegedly the deceased, though I'm not taking that on faith) is slightly better than the alternative, but a ghoulish decision is still a ghoulish decision.

having a hard time thinking the AI use was just limited to Kilmer here.



Personally, I hate seeing a deceased person reanimated with AI, their image and voice in effect used as a puppet. Acting is the total of countless thoughts, decisions, movements and words reflecting what's going on inside the actor. The life inside the actor. I saw one YouTube comment on the trailer below that really struck a chord:

It's missing the thought process that showed through his eyes. For me, that's what made him a great actor.

I remember reading something during the SAG-AFTRA strike three years ago about how producers might be able to "resurrect" actors who didn't have estates to protect their images and voices. That worried me because an older friend who was one of my two actress roommates when I lived in NYC long ago is gone now. She was close to 40 and doing theater then, but earlier she'd done films and guest-starred on hit TV shows in both the UK, which she was from, and the US. Very beautiful woman with a striking, beautiful voice (she could sing, too, well enough for musicals). I have no idea who might be able to represent her interests if some AI-using ghoul of a producer thought she could be exploited.

I'd guess, too, since she had friends in the business who hadn't been as successful as she'd been - and since she didn't seem to be at all egotistical - that she would have said that dead actors shouldn't be used as puppets to compete with living actors. It's a tough enough business without that.


Here's the trailer for the AI Val Kilmer film. You should view this on YouTube and then look at the comments there.