Netflix’s ability to churn out original content is no doubt impressive, with their latest effort, The Watcher, set to start production this autumn.
Starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale in the two lead roles, The Watcher will follow a married couple who have just moved into a new home, only to find themselves the targets of a stalker. Known as ‘The Watcher’ the stalker sends the couple threatening letters to try and force them to leave their new home.
Remarkably, the story is based on a real-life encounter that happened in New Jersey, in which a couple and their children eventually had to move out of their home due to constant harassment. Despite theories, podcasts and research, the culprit has never been identified.
Buying the home in 2014 for $1.4million, the couple quickly put the house back on the market after notes from the stalker which read that they’d been ‘watching the house for decades’, with another sinister note marked ‘I am The Watcher. Bring me your young blood’. The house did eventually sell again in 2019 for $959,000.
With executive producers Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan onboard, better known for their hit series’ Ratched, The Politician and Pose, the show looks to be in good hands, especially considering that Naomi and Bobby are to work with each other again in the upcoming Once Upon a Time in Staten Island. Directed by The Purge’s James DeMonaco, the film is set to be a coming of age family drama set in the summer of 1982 on Staten Island, New York.
The Watcher was at the centre of a bidding war between six studios in late 2018 before Netflix acquired the rights and opted for the story to be turned into a miniseries.
The Watcher is set for release in 2022.
