Watcher: Maika Monroe thriller sells to IFC Midnight, Shudder, and Focus Features

The psychological thriller Watcher, starring genre regular Maika Monroe (The Guest, It Follows, The Stranger), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week – and our own Gaius Bolling gave the film an 8/10 review you can read at THIS LINK. He wasn’t the only one buzzing about it; the North American distribution rights to Watcher were quickly picked up by IFC Midnight and the Shudder streaming service. Soon after, AGC International closed a worldwide rights (outside North America) deal with Focus Features.

None of the companies have revealed their release plans yet.

Watcher marks the feature directorial debut of Chloe Okuno, who wrote the script with Zack Ford. Karl Glusman and Burn Gorman join Monroe in the cast of the film, which follows

young married couple Julia (Monroe) and Francis (Glusman) as they move into a new apartment together 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. 

When the IFC Midnight and Shudder deal was announced, Okuno released the following statement (via Deadline):

It was a hard-fought battle to make Watcher during the pandemic, and I’m so proud of everyone who worked to get us to this point. I am beyond delighted to partner with IFC Midnight and Shudder to continue this journey together and cannot wait to share the movie with a wider audience.”

IFC’s Arianna Bocco said:

Chloe Okuno’s exceptional vision uses horror and thriller elements in a masterful way that will resonate with any person looking for a singular cinematic experience, even further emboldened by a star-turning performance from Maika Monroe. We’re honored to introduce Chloe’s stunning feature debut Watcher to audiences across North America, announcing her as a director to watch.”

Shudder’s Craig Engler added:

We’ve been huge fans of Chloe Okuno’s since her short film days and were lucky to have her direct one of the most popular segments of our hit movie V/H/S/94, which premiered to record numbers last year. We’re delighted to be working with her again on Watcher, which is a brilliant and tense film with a breakout performance from Maika Monroe, and we can’t wait for Shudder members to see it.”

Watcher is an Image Nation and Spooky Pictures co-production. The film is being produced by Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Derek Dauchy, John Finemore, Mason Novick, Aaron Kaplan, and Sean Perrone. Stuart Manashil, Rami Yasin, and James Hoppe serve as executive producers.

This film definitely has my attention, especially after seeing the review we have of it. I look forward to hearing when Watcher is going to be released into the world.