Naomi Watts has been cast in the lead role in the upcoming Quibi series “Wolves and Villagers,” Variety has learned exclusively.
The exact plot of the short-form series is being kept under wraps, but Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg has previously described the show as “Fatal Attraction 2.0.” Jason Blum is executive producing the series, with Stuart Blumberg writing and executive producing.
This marks the latest TV project for Watts. She was recently cast in a major role in the “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot at HBO, and signed on to play Gretchen Carlson in the Roger Ailes limited series currently in the works at Showtime. She previously appeared in Showtime’s revival of “Twin Peaks.”
Watts is also known for her roles in films like “Mulholland Drive,” “I Heart Huckabees,” “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “St. Vincent,” “The Ring,” “King Kong, and “J. Edgar.” She earned Academy Award nominations for her roles in “21 Grams” and “The Impossible.”
She is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, and Hansen Jacobson.
Quibi (short for “quick bites”) was first unveiled by Katzenberg and Meg Whitman back in August. The company has reportedly raised $1 billion from investors, including money from major studios like Warner Bros. and Disney. In addition to “Wolves and Villagers,” Quibi also has projects in the works from A-listers like Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua, and Sam Raimi. Each series is expected to be two-to-four hours in length.
Speaking at Variety‘s Innovate Summit in Los Angeles in December, Whitman said Quibi aims to get people watching during what she called “in-between moments.”
“You leave the house every morning with a little TV in your pocket. It’s called your smart phone,” she said. “During the day, you have these in-between moments. Ten minutes here, 15 minutes there, where you want to see something great.”