Netflix pays seven figures for ‘Westfield Watcher’ movie deal
WESTFIELD — A movie about one of the state's most infamous houses will soon be coming to Netflix.
Deadlline is reporting that the video streaming service won a "ferocious bidding battle" over the feature rights to "The Watcher," an article in New York Magazine. The article was about a couple who said they were scared away from their home after receiving threatening letters from someone named "The Watcher."
In the letters, the author claimed to be controlling the house for two decades and that the last owners had sold it because "it was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to." The most recent owners of the home sued the people they bought it from for $1.3 million claiming they knew about "The Watcher" and did nothing to warn them about it.
"Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested?" the lawsuit claimed one letter said. "Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too (sic) me."
The town also rejected a plan by the owners to tear down the house to get rid of any bad vibes and build a new one in its place. Saying they were too afraid to move into the house the owners leased it to a willing tenant who said he was unaware of the controversy and had not received any threatening letters.
While no cast has been announced yet the Deadline article said Netflix paid "seven figures" for the rights to the article in New York Magazine "and the rights of the beleaguered homeowners who've lived this nightmare for four years."
There is no release date for the movie, according to the website.