Maika Monroe (It Follows), Karl Glusman (Nocturnal Animals) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes) have signed on to star in psychological thriller Watcher, directed by Chloe Okuno.
Set to begin shooting this month, Watcher follows young married couple Julia (Monroe) and Francis (Glusman) as they move into a new apartment in Bucharest just as a citywide panic is brewing over a possible serial killer on the loose. Julia, who finds herself isolated in her new surroundings, becomes increasingly tormented by the belief that she is being stalked by an unseen watcher in the adjacent building.
The film is a co-production between Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Spooky Pictures, the low-budget genre label formed by producers Steven Schneider (Insidious, Split, Pet Sematary) and Roy Lee (It, The Ring, The Strangers). This is the second time Schneider has collaborated with Image Nation Abu Dhabi after having been a producer on Arab dystopian thriller The Worthy.
Watcher is based on an original spec by screenwriter Zack Ford. In addition to Lee and Schneider, it will be produced by Derek Dauchy, John Finemore, Mason Novick, Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone. Stuart Manashil, Rami Yasin and James Hoppe will executive produce.
Okuno’s award-winning horror short Slut was directed as a thesis project for the American Film Institute graduate program and garnered praise at festivals around the country. She has since been hired to write Orion’s remake of the 1977 supernatural thriller Audrey Rose.
Monroe is repped by WME, Management 360 and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson. Glusman is repped by WME, Ilene Feldman and Ziffren Brittenham. Gorman is repped by Gersh, Hamilton Hodell and Management 360. Okuno is repped by UTA, and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer. Ford, whose Watcher script appeared on The Blood List in 2016, is repped by UTA and Novo Entertainment.
Cinetic is handling the U.S./North American rights to the film, while AGC International, the international sales and distribution arm of AGC Studios, handles the rights for the rest of the world.
