Val Kilmer takes part in ‘Steam Experiment’

Val Kilmer is one among five to board Philippe Martinez’s upcoming indie thriller “The  Steam Experiment,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Megan Brown and Patrick Muldoon have also signed on to star in the project, which recently began filming in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Written by Rob Malkani, “Steam” focuses on a former university professor (Kilmer) who traps six people in a Turkish bathhouse and keeps increasing the temperature to prove to the world that humanity will slip into chaos under the impact of global warming.

Assante plays a detective who tries to find the location of the hostages. Roberts, Brown and Muldoon play three of the victims. On board to star as the remaining three are Eve Mauro, Quinn Duffy and Cordelia Reynolds.

Martinez also directed “Citizen Verdict” and the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle “Wake of Death.”

Kilmer has several projects awaiting release, including Werner Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” and Charles Winkler’s action drama “Streets of Blood.” He also recently signed on to star in Dennis Dimster-Denk’s “Fake Identity.”

The story line of “Steam” is different, but the basic concept sounds much like the excellent German thriller “The Experiment,” in which people volunteered to be part of a social prison experiment that quickly turned into a brutal battle for survival.