Jim Carrey has signed on to star in and executive produce the big screen adaptation of Steve Niles’s comic horror book Aleister Arcane for Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment. According to Variety: “The comic book story focused on a local TV horror host Aleister Arcane, who’s forced off the air due to the wishes of parents in an Oklahoma community. In the wake of Arcane’s unplanned retirement, unexplained terror and horror beset the town.”

The movie will center on a group of children who befriend the old man, now bitter after being shunned by their parents. Following his death, the kids are the only ones with the power to break the curse he has placed on their town.

Filmmaker Eli Roth (Hostel franchise, Knock, Knock, and the upcoming Death Wish remake) is set to direct this picture, which has been in the works for a while now. Roth specializes in horror films, but he is very much in demand, which indicates that this will be a high profile project, especially considering the involvement of big names like Carrey and Spielberg.

Screenwriter Jon Croker, whose latest work includes the 2014 horror film Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, is writing the script for Aleister Arcane.

Once known almost exclusively for wacky comedies, lately Carrey has been working on some surprisingly edgy films, including the thriller True Crimes and the dystopian cannibal drama The Bad Batch, both scheduled to premiere later this year.