Actor River Phoenix died way too young, having had a heart attack at the age of 23. The film he was working on when he unexpectedly died, had been shelved, until now.

In 1993, Phoenix along with co-stars Judy Davis and Jonathan Pryce had nearly wrapped filming on a thriller titled Dark Blood.

Then the unexpected happened when it’s star dropped dead of a drug related heart attack on Halloween night outside a Hollywood nightclub.

The unfinished film had been shelved since there was no possibility of completion, however the production is now getting a second chance.

Dutch director George Sluizer is determined to finish the project and to have it in theaters sometime in 2012.

He is enlisting Phoenix’s baby brother Joaquin to aid in the completion by providing voice-overs for the film which will be re-cut.

The director spoke with The Hollywood Reporter saying that “the voices of both brothers are very much alike.”

Phoenix was at the time one of Hollywood’s most sought after young talents, and no doubt would have become an A-List Hollywood heavyweight had his light not been snuffed out so early.

Can’t wait for this one to hit theaters.

What about you guys? Are you gonna go check out River Phoenix’s last film, 18 years after his death?

Sound off in the comments section!