The film River Phoenix was working on when he died is to be finished and released, 18 years after his death, the director has announced.

George Sluizer told The Hollywood Reporter he hopes to release Dark Blood next year.

The filmmaker said he plans to ask Phoenix's brother Joaquin to record the film's voiceover because "the voices of both brothers are very much alike".

Phoenix died of a drugs overdose in 1993, aged 23.

Just 11 days of filming on Dark Blood remained at the time.

The producers later attempted to sue his mother for $6 million (£3.8 million) saying he did not declare his drug use. The case later collapsed.

However Sluizer, who directed Spoorloos and The Vanishing, has stayed in touch with the Phoenix family in the intervening years.

He told The Hollywood Reporter he had kept the Dark Blood footage hidden all this time, fearing it would be destroyed.

It has now been re-edited and Sluzier believes that with a few adjustments, including the creation of a voice-over, he can complete the movie.

The story concerns a widower living on a nuclear testing site in the desert, who comes to the rescue of a couple of honeymooners when their car breaks down.

Source: Press Release