Dakota Fanning (The Equalizer 3) has added to an already stacked dance card, closing a deal to lead the buzzy supernatural thriller The Watchers, which will mark the feature debut of writer-director Ishana Night Shyamalan.

The film set up at New Line Cinema following a multi-studio bidding war, which is based on the 2021 gothic horror novel by A.M. Shine, tells the story of Mina (Fanning), a 28-year-old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

M. Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan will produce through Blinding Edge Pictures, alongside Nimitt Mankad for Inimitable Pictures, with Jo Homewood and Stephen Dembitzer exec producing. The film is expected to enter production this summer and will debut in theaters on June 7, 2024.

Fanning was at CinemaCon earlier this week to tout Sony’s forthcoming vigilante actioner The Equalizer 3, which reunites her on screen with Denzel Washington for the first time since Tony Scott’s Man on Fire all the way back in 2004. The Critics’ Choice Award winner and SAG Award nominee also recently landed a role alongside Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber and Eve Hewson in Netflix’s limited series The Perfect Couple, based on the Elin Hilderbrand bestseller, which Susanne Bier will direct. And she’ll next year star with Andrew Scott in Steve Zaillian’s own Netflix limited series, Ripley, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling quintet of Tom Ripley novels.

Fanning previously collaborated with Bier on Showtime’s The First Lady, starring there opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, and also starred opposite Daniel Brühl and Luke Evans on TNT’s The Alienist, which premiered as cable’s #1 new drama before going on to claim an Emmy, two Golden Globe noms and other accolades. Recent film credits for the actress include Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Ocean’s Eight and Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut American Pastoral.

Fanning is represented by UTA, Echo Lake Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller. [Source]