"Watchmen" hero Jeffrey Dean Morgan will star in Lionsgate's "Dibbuk Box," which will be the studio's big Halloween release, reports Variety.
Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal ("Nightwatch") will direct from a screenplay by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, whose script is inspired by true events.
Morgan will play a recently divorced father whose daughter's behavior becomes increasingly erratic after she purchases an antique wooden box at a yard sale. He soon discovers that the box was built to contain a dislocated spirit — a dibbuk — that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host.
Lionsgate is placing a big bet on "Dibbuk Box" by releasing the film on Oct. 28. The studio has released a new entry in the "Saw" franchise on Halloween weekend for the past seven years.
Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert will produce through their genre outfit Ghost House Pictures, whose principal Nathan Kahane will exec produce alongside Stan Wertlieb and Peter Schlessel. "The Grudge" screenwriter Stephen Susco will co-produce with Ghost House's J.R. Young, Nicole Brown and Kelli Konop.
Morgan last starred in the comic book romp "The Losers," and he'll soon be seen opposite Sam Worthington and Chloe Moretz in Ami Canaan Mann's indie murder mystery "The Fields." He also recently wrapped Bruce Beresford's indie "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding," and has MGM's "Red Dawn" remake in the can awaiting release.
Morgan is represented by UTA and Precision Entertainment.
