Despite the apex of the genre occurring forty years ago, the past few years has seen an increase in exorcism films: “The Rite,” “The Devil Inside,” and two at-bats for “The Last Exorcism” among others. And in case you forgot, last fall it was reported that “Sinister” director Scott Derrickson was heading back to the exorcism well (he wrote and directed 2005’s “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose”) with “Beware The Night” and he’s lined up a nifty cast to join Eric Bana.
Co-written by Derrickson and his ‘Emily Rose’ partner Paul Boardman, the film will center on Bana as an Irish Catholic NYPD detective who, while working on a murder case, runs into a “renegade priest” — to be played by Edgar Ramirez — who is convinced that “a demonic element” is at play. “Magic Mike” and “The Newsroom” actress Olivia Munn rounds out the lead cast as Bana’s wife “who also has a tie to the case.” Odds that the last third of the film deals with the cop and priest saving Munn from the demon? Very high.
While last year the film was reported to include werewolves, it seems that angle has been dropped entirely. We suppose there’s only so much an Irish Catholic cop can handle in New York City. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing the film which begins shooting on location in the Bronx next month. [Deadline]