Toward the end of last week, a news story about a New Jersey family who were driven from their new home by a series of threatening letters sent by someone called The Watcher went viral. (Click HERE to read more about it.) Many who read the news commented that it sounded like the plot of a horror movie. Apparently many horror filmmakers agreed, as Tracking-Board reports that several studios and production companies are now scrambling to be the first to get a film based on the story off the ground.
Among those the site says are interested are THE CONJURING's James Wan, THE STRANGERS writer/director Bryan Bertino, Blumhouse Productions, Dimension Films, New Line Cinema, and Universal Pictures.
The film rights have yet to be secured from the family, but that isn't stopping the hopeful pitches from happening at the various companies.
The story of The Watcher sort of reminded me of THE EVICTORS, the Charles B. Pierce film that centered on a property that had been the location of violent events stretching back to the 1920s. The note-writing Watcher claimed to be the latest in a line of Watchers that had been keeping an eye on this particular house and its occupants ever since the 1920s. His grandfather and father had been Watchers, and now it's his turn to pick up the family tradition of being a stalker.
The notes that really freaked out the house's inhabitants hinted at there being some kind of horrible secret hidden within the walls of the house, the final straw being when The Watcher started demanding "young blood". Time to move.
It is definitely a scenario with horror movie potential, and it will be interesting to see who comes out the victor in this race to the screen. I say make them all, give us James Wan's take on the story, and Bryan Bertino's, and Blumhouse's, etc. Let's see how differently each person/company handles it, and let the audience decide who did it the best… Yeah, I'm just dreaming.
Marisa Tomei was in a movie called THE WATCHER years ago
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