The Watcher

The Watcher (2000)

Don't go home alone.

FBI agent Joel Campbell, burnt-out and shell-shocked after years spent chasing serial killers, flees L.A. to begin a new life for himself in Chicago. But five months later, Joel's best laid plans are abruptly cut short when his new hometown becomes the setting for some particularly gruesome murders--murders that could only have been committed by one man: David Allen Griffin. One of Joel's most elusive and cunning nemeses, Griffin has followed his former pursuer to Chicago in order to play a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Taunting Joel with photographs of his intended victims and leaving his crime scenes meticulously free of clues in order to keep the police at bay, Griffin derives as much pleasure out of watching Joel react to every movement as watching his victims die. But when Griffin moves into Joel's inner circle, Joel must quickly find some way to stop him before someone close to him becomes the next one to die.

Date of release
2000-09-08
TMDB
5.2 / 10 (571)
Runtime
1h 36m
Genres
Mystery, Thriller
Director
Joe Charbanic

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Chicago

The Watcher is a 2000 American thriller film directed by Joe Charbanic and starring James Spader, Marisa Tomei, and Keanu Reeves. Set in Chicago, the film is about a retired FBI agent who is stalked and taunted by a serial killer.

Production

Music video director Joe Charbanic had an idea for a low budget thriller about a cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a serial killer. Charbanic worked together on the initial draft then titled Macon and took the project to producer Christopher Eberts with Interlight soon acquiring the project intent on reshaping it into more of an action film.

Charbanic had been friends with Keanu Reeves after having directed a number of music videos for his band, Dogstar, and was insistent on casting Reeves as killer David Allen Griffin as he was interested in seeing Reeves play against type as the villain. Reeves has stated that he was not interested in the script but was forced into doing the film when Charbanic forged his signature on a contract.

After Universal Pictures acquired the film's domestic rights, Universal reached an agreement with Reeves in which he would not disclose what had happened until 12 months after the film's US release; in return, Universal agreed to downplay Reeves's involvement in marketing, and Universal asked the film's producers to enhance Reeves's profit participation (which led Reeves to ultimately receive an additional $2 million).

This movie featured the 1996 hit "6 Underground" performed by Sneaker Pimps.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended