It looks like Joel McHale will be taking a break from his usual comic persona for a more dramatic role in the upcoming supernatural thriller Beware the Night, to be directed by Scott Derrickson. McHale, known for his cool-jerk character on the TV series Community and his sarcastic remarks on E!’s The Soup, is in negotiation for the role of a hardened NYPD cop alongside Eric Bana (in a role initially offered to Mark Wahlberg). Also attached to the film is Olivia Munn, who will play Bana’s wife, Sean Harris (Prometheus),  and Edgar Ramirez(Wrath of the Titans) as a Jesuit priest.

Beware the Night was co-written by Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman, who previously collaborated on Derrickson’s most notable flick, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, in which the homicide of a young woman is blamed on demonic posession. Possession will be playing a large role in Beware the Night as well. The story centers on a New York cop (Bana) that faces off against a devil-possessed soldier (Harris).

The film will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and is set to release in 2015.