After much acclaim for directing the clever horror movie Longlegs, Osgood Perkins is back with The Monkey, an adaptation of the short story by beloved author Stephen King. A teaser trailer is officially out, which will make fans of the horror genre and King's large body of work excited about the upcoming project.
With James Wan producing and written and directed by Osgood Perkins, The Monkey stars Theo James, Eliljah Wood, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy.
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The Monkey, which is a great pick for fans of Longlegs, is about "a beast not from this earth," as the teaser trailer explains. As a character says, "Whoever controls it, controls life and death, and those deaths are really f*cked up." The story has many hallmarks of Stephen King's stories, from a young kid dealing with good and evil to a terrifying creature. It looks like it has a perfect blend of scares and great characters.
There have been many solid horror movies adapted from short stories and King's fans are always hoping that more of his freaky tales are made into films. It's exciting that The Monkey is bringing brought to the big screen since the short story was published several decades ago. After appearing in Galley magazine in 1980, it was published in the 1985 short story collection Skeleton's Key.
As the logline for The Monkey reads, this is a horrifying and intriguing tale:
"When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years."
In June 2024, Perkins spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Longlegs and shared some compelling information about the vibe and tone of The Monkey. He said, "The Monkey is like Robert Zemeckis on ecstasy or something. It's a very playful comedy with a lot of really excessive gore, language. It's a kids' movie that's rated R." When audiences hear the title of the short story and movie, they might think it's about a real monkey. However, the fact that it's about a toy makes it even scarier and more fascinating.
Perkins is known for writing and directing the creepy Emma Roberts horror movie The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and he also directed Gretel & Hansel, which was released in 2020 . These movies investigated demons, ghosts, and an infamous fairy tale villain. Now, with The Monkey, Perkins is expanding his horror repertoire and telling a scary story about a toy monkey that gives the main characters a fright.
The Monkey will be released in theaters on February 21st, 2025 and horror fans will get the chance to see more brilliant filmmaking from Perkins.
Source: Elevation Pictures, Variety