The Watchers has a different name outside the US and horror fans can’t work out why

Dakota Fanning stars in a new horror movie that hits screens worldwide this week. However, while the monster movie is called The Watchers in most territories, it’s also going by a different title in a couple of countries; one that has horror fans scratching their collective heads.

The Watchers is the directorial debut of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana, who writes and directs the horror movie, based on A. M. Shine’s 2021 novel of the same name.

Dakota Fanning and Georgina Campbell star in the supernatural chiller, about an artist who becomes stranded in a mysterious forest in Ireland, then finds herself stalked by creatures during the night.

The film hits US screens this week, via that original title: The Watchers. But in both the UK and Ireland, said name has been changed to The Watched, which has horror fans on social media confused.

One Twitter user writes: “Can anyone explain the reason behind releasing The Watchers as The Watched in UK/ROI? Considering the book is Irish it’s a confounding one. Not to mention how it reverses the context.”

Another tweets: “The AM Shine (who is Irish) book is The Watchers which makes this more interesting as Watched is the UK title. Unless this was a marketing mistake.”

While a third has a theory: “Wonder why they’ve retitled this The Watched here in the UK. Maybe to distance itself from that Netflix show.”

Why has the title of The Watchers changed?

It looks like that fan theory is correct, and The Watchers changed its name in the UK and Ireland to avoid being confused with 2022 Netflix thriller The Watcher.

Film Dublin did some digging and, via a production source, learned this: “Focus group testing found that UK/Ireland based viewers were confusing the film with Ryan Murphy series The Watcher. The Netflix series follows a married couple played by Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts, who, after moving into their dream home, are harassed by creepy letters signed by a stalker calling themself ‘The Watcher.’

With Warner Bros. not wishing to go head-to-head with Season 1 of The Watcher when the film hits streaming — or even potential future seasons — the decision was therefore taken to change the name, turning The Watchers into The Watched.

Whatever title it goes by, Ishana Night Shyamalan’s first film hits screens this Friday, June 2. For more movies releasing this month head here. While for the best movies of 2024 so far click here.