Los Angeles | The filmmakers behind "As Deep as the Grave", an upcoming historical drama, have resurrected late Hollywood star Val Kilmer though generative AI.

Kilmer, who died last year after battling throat cancer, was to star as Father Finton, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist in the movie, but he was too sick to shoot his role. The film tells the story of Ann Axtell Morris, one of America's first female archeologists, and her excavation of the Canyon De Chelly in Arizona.

With the cooperation of Kilmer's estate and his daughter Mercedes, the "As Deep as the Grave" team used the technology to include Kilmer, the star of Hollywood hits such as "Top Gun", "The Doors", "Batman Forever", "Heat" and "Top Gun: Maverick".

In the trailer that was unveiled at CinemaCon, the industry exhibition show in Las Vegas, Kilmer can be seen at various ages - at one point, he's a spectral, ghost-like figure; at another, he's a dashing, 30-something man of the cloth, reported Variety.

Coerte Voorhees, the film's writer and director, and John Voorhees, the film's producer and Coerte's brother, said they found an ethical way to use the controversial technology, because they collaborated with Kilmer's family.

"It was very much designed around him," Coerte Voorhees told Variety last month. "It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest... His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this." Coerte Voorhees revealed at CinemaCon that Kilmer's role is substantial and his character will appear in over an hour of the movie.

While there is a lot of debate and fear in Hollywood and in the industries around the world about AI eliminating acting jobs, the team behind the movie said they used the technology out of necessity and strictly followed guidelines set by Screen Actors Guild.

In a statement, Mercedes Kilmer said her father would have wanted to be included in "As Deep as the Grave." "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."