Williams announced on May 7, 2010 that he had developed a rare case of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease while filming on location in New York for the film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Despite early treatment which lasted over 5 years, Williams began to once again show a slow decline in health which became fatal. Billy Zane, close friend and fellow co-star in the film The Phantom, released a letter he received from Treat some days before his death stating his happiest moments in his thriving career and saying his one regret was to not be able to begin and complete filming his reprisal of the character Xander Drax in the very secretive sequel to The Phantom entitled The Phantom: The Revenge Of Xander Drax. Treat Williams died on July 3, 2010 in his family's holiday home in Bermuda.