River Phoenix Returning To The Big Screen

Eighteen years after the death of River Phoenix, Dutch director George Sluizer says he intends to put the star back on the big screen.

Best known as the director of the original version of The Vanishing, Sluizer was directing what proved to be Phoenix's final film when the star died of a drug related heart attack in 1993. Titled Dark Blood the picture was a drama that starred Phoenix as a sort of hermit awaiting the end of the world while living on a nuclear test site. Sluizer stashed the original footage away when Phoenix died and believes he has enough to complete the film with a bit of creative editing and by employing Phoenix's brother Joaquin to provide some voice over work.

Dutch production house Eyeworks - the people behind the hit New Kids films - have stepped in to help Sluizer finish the film and deal with legal issues surrounding it. At one point the original producers of the film attempted to sue Phoenix's family claiming they should have declared his drug use before production began, so the legalities will almost certainly be thorny.