When River Phoenix overdosed outside a West Hollywood nightclub in 1993, he was in the middle of working on a film titled "Dark Blood." They had 11 days left to film when Phoenix was pronounced dead from a combination of cocaine and heroin.

After his untimely passing, the studio pulled the plug on the movie -- it was too expensive to work around Phoenix's absence or replace him, so the footage went into a locked vault. Now, according to the movie's official website, it will finally see the light of day -- nearly 20 years after his death.

"Director George Sluizer is working on cutting together the film. The unfinished film will finally be completed in 2012," the website announces. "Dark Blood will have its Premiere with a guest audience in September 2012 at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht." There is no word as to whether U.S. screenings or a DVD release are planned.

The official synopsis of the movie is as follows: "Dark Blood tells the story of Boy, a young widower living on a nuclear testing site in the desert. Boy is waiting for the end of the world and carves Katchina dolls that supposedly contain magical powers. Boy's solitude is interrupted when a Hollywood jet-set couple who are travelling across the desert become stranded after their car breaks down. The couple are rescued by Boy, who then holds them prisoner because of his desire for the woman and his ambition to create a better world with her."

Sluizer, who is 80 years old, decided to finish the film after nearly dying himself, according to EW.