The trades are reporting that Guy Pearce is in final negotiations to join the supernatural thriller Don’t be Afraid of the Dark.

In development at Miramax Films, the movie is based on a 1973 ABC telefilm which followed a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend to discover that they are sharing the house with demonic creatures.

Terabithia star Bailee Madison has already been hired to play the girl, with Pearce joining to play her father, an author frustrated by his daughter’s tales of monsters. His disbelief continues even when his girlfriend, played by Katie Holmes, backs his daughter.

It has been written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins. Troy Nixey directs.