Final River Phoenix Film To Be Released in 2012
Dutch director George Sluzier was working on his film "Dark Blood" in 1993 when one of the film's stars died. That star was River Phoenix. After 18 years, Sluzier has returned to the unfinished project and will finalize the film.
Sluzier hid the "Dark Blood" footage after Phoenix's untimely death in fear that it would be destroyed. He has now re-edited the material and feels that with a few tweaks, a final cut could be ready for release next year. Phoenix's brother, Joaquin Phoenix, will be asked to do a voiceover for his late brother's character, Boy. “The voices of both brothers are very much alike,” the director, who has stayed in touch with the Phoenix-family, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The film's synopsis, according to IMDB, is as follows.
Dealing with nuclear testing and its long-lasting deadly effects, the story portrays Boy, a young widower living in the desert on a nuclear testing site. Living as a hermit, he waits for the end of the world carving Katchina dolls that he believes have magical powers. While traveling on a "second" honeymoon across the Arizona desert, the car of a Hollywood jet-set couple breaks down. They are rescued by Boy, who holds them prisoners because he desires the woman and wants to create a better world with her.
Phoenix was not one of the many young stars who died at 27. He died at 23 on Halloween night in front of The Viper Room, an L.A. nightclub which, at the time, was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp. Phoenix died of a heart attack induced by a deadly combination of drugs.
