Somewhere out there, there's an alternate universe where Eric Bana is a huge movie star. Intense and fearless, Bana has frequently contributed great work to films that don't deserve him and his career has suffered in the process. He now belongs to the Guy Pearce school of actors: former leading men bizarre character actors. The news that he's in talks to star in a supernatural thriller called 'Beware the Night' is heartening. It's been too long since Bana got the play the hero.

The film is being co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, whose 'Sinister' is easily the best horror film to hit theaters in 2012. That bodes well for 'Beware the Night': if it's half as scary as his previous effort, Derrickson will have another hit on his hands. Although plot specifics are unknown at this time, we do know that the film will follow "a New York police officer investigating real life demon possessions, exorcisms and werewolves" and is inspired by a non-fiction book that details supposedly real supernatural encounters experienced by various law enforcement types.

Depending on which decade you grew up in, this should sound a lot like either 'Kolchak, the Night Stalker,' 'The X-Files' or John Constantine. That's some excellent company. You know the old saying: there's always room for new stories in the supernatural procedural genre!

Okay, that may not be an old saying, but it's definitely true.

More From ScreenCrush