What's Val Up To?
- Val Kilmer is collaborating with Israeli artist Tomer Peretz on unusual (some would say creepy) artwork in the NFT world.
- The actor has also leaned into and publicly displayed his passion for creating artwork by joining the NFT (non-fungible token) world to sell his digital works.
- And though he originally kept his cancer battle out of the public eye, Kilmer eventually shared more about his throat cancer journey through interviews, his memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, and his documentary, Val.
- As a result of his successful cancer treatments, Val now uses a voice box to talk. For Top Gun: Maverick, his Iceman voice was reconstructed using A.I.
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Cancer survivor Val Kilmer continues to soar as the hit movie Top Gun: Maverick continues to set new box office records.
After bringing in $601.9 million in the United States, the fighter pilot thrill ride has now passed Titanic to become Paramount Pictures’ highest-grossing movie of all time, domestically.
Back in 1997, Titanic brought in $600.7 million during its initial release. And there’s a bit of a caveat to Top Gun‘s triumph over the unsinkable ship: a theatrical rerelease brought in another few million for the big boat, whose all time domestic total stands at $659.3 million.
While new Top Gun sequel has done well at home, it’s also been a smash overseas it’s brought in almost as much money in other countries, with a total box office of $1.19 billion, globally.
While Top Gun: Maverick is undeniably a hit, it still has a ways to go before it can make its way into the conversation about all-time records: it still falls outside the top 10 and has brought in less than half of the biggest revenue-generator ever: 2009’s Avatar.
In the film, Val Kilmer reprises his role as Iceman, a pilot who was initially an antagonist to Tom Cruise’s titular Maverick in the original. Despite any onscreen tension, the two stars seem to get along famously these days.
According to Kilmer's autobiography, I'm Your Huckleberry, he was initially reluctant to take part in another Top Gun movie after producers didn't contact him. But once he expressed interest, he was brought back onboard.
"Forget the fact that thirty years had passed since I'd seen the ghost of Iceman's dad. I remembered it like it was yesterday," he wrote. "The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn't have been cooler. And the next thing I knew I was back, as the Beatles said, where I 'once belonged.'
"Tom and I took up where we left off. The reunion felt great."
Val’s Cancer Journey
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 but didn't speak publicly about the disease until 2017. He wasn't considering conventional treatment at first, thinking his Christian Science faith would heal the tumors, but he eventually agreed to undergo chemotherapy for the sake of his children Mercedes, 30, and Jack, 26, whom he had with his ex-wife, English actress Joanne Whalley, 60.
Kilmer also underwent a tracheotomy a surgical procedure that connects the windpipe to a hole in the front of the neck which greatly impacted his speaking voice.
And though he originally kept his cancer battle out of the public eye, Kilmer eventually shared more about his journey through interviews, his memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, and his documentary, Val, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
"I have been healed of cancer for over four years now, and there has never been any recurrence," he wrote in I'm Your Huckleberry. "I am so grateful."
Understanding Throat Cancer
Throat cancer is a type of head and neck cancer where cancerous cells begin in the throat, voice box or tonsils. Some of the main risk factors for this disease include smoking, drinking alcohol, a diet lacking in fruits or vegetables, acid reflux disease and the human papillomavirus (HPV). So, one way to decrease the chances of developing the disease is to get the HPV vaccine.
The American Cancer Society recommends that boys and girls get the HPV vaccine between ages 9 and 12. The organization also stresses that teens and young adults through age 26 who are not already vaccinated should get the HPV vaccine as soon as possible. Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, explains the link between throat cancer and HPV in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
Get the Facts: What Do We Know About HPV-Linked Throat Cancer?
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