The Watcher: Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale to lead Ryan Murphy series

Ryan Murphy is continuing his planned television domination with another limited Netflix series as part of his overall deal with the streaming service. According to a new exclusive from Deadline, Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale have landed the lead roles in the upcoming series The Watcher.

While the details aren’t confirmed, The Watcher is rumored to follow a married couple who finally move into their dream home, only to realize they’ve inherited a stalker who sends them threatening letters signed, “The Watcher.”

Murphy is working with his frequent collaborator Ian Brennan on the project along with Bryan Unkeless, Eric Newman, Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman, with filming scheduled to start in the fall.

The Watcher is inspired by the infamous New Jersey “Watcher” house

As the outlet details, the show is rumored to be inspired by the infamous “Watcher” house in New Jersey. The plotline also sounds a little similar to the first season of Murphy’s American Horror Story.

For those unfamiliar with the “Watcher” house, the story goes that a couple purchased the 1905 Dutch colonial revival in 2014 for a cool $1.4 million and then were later forced to abandon their home after they continued to receive creepy letters from someone who claimed to have been watching the house for decades. ”

The story gets even weirder because the terrified family put the house back on the market and rented it to someone in 2017. The renter also received a letter from the unknown person threatening their life. It wasn’t until 2019 that the house sold again while the identity of “The Watcher” continues to be a mystery.

CNN reported on the story in 2019 and transcribed some of the letters received by the family.

"“It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet? Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone. I would [be] very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.“Will they sleep in the attic? Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street? I’ll know as soon as you move in. It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better.”"

The family that lived in the home before 2014, reportedly didn’t have any incidences while living there until right before they moved out. But they claimed the one letter they received wasn’t threatening in nature.

Are you looking forward to watching The Watcher? What do you think about the casting of Watts and Cannavale? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.