It's always exciting when a collection of very talented people collaborate on a new project, and with that in mind, there are some big reasons to be excited for The Monkey. Featuring an excellent cast led by Theo James, the upcoming horror movie is based on a short story by the legendary Stephen King, produced by genre master James Wan, and written and directed by Osgood Perkins – the filmmaker behind Longlegs, one of the buzziest films of the year.
If all of that doesn't get you feeling a lot of anticipation, allow the brand new teaser trailer above push you over the finish line.
The Monkey is being released by Neon (the same company behind the distribution of Longlegs earlier this summer), and with the studio releasing their latest genre feature in theaters this past weekend – Tilman Singer's Cuckoo – they decide to include a special first look at Osgood Perkins' upcoming Stephen King movie. Clearly it's more "teaser" than "trailer," but despite its short length, it does a surprisingly good job of illustrating an outrageous tone.
An adaptation of the story of the same name (which is included in the 1985 Stephen King omnibus Skeleton Crew), The Monkey tells the story of identical twin brothers (Theo James) who grow estranged in adulthood following a traumatic childhood involving a number of deaths that seemed to stem from the actions of an evil toy monkey. Based on the gore splatter and corrupted circus music in the trailer, it doesn't seem like the movie will be short on scares, but the amusing shot of James removing his glasses and the shape of them remaining in blood on his face suggests that there will be a few dark laughs as well.
In addition to Theo James, the star-studded horror movie also stars Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Elijah Wood, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy, and it secretly completed production earlier this year after development was announced in May 2023. Perhaps the best news of all is that audiences aren't going to have to wait that long to see it, as the movie will be hitting theaters in less than half-a-year. While we're waiting for a number of other Stephen King adaptations to get dates – including Gary Dauberman's Salem's Lot, Mike Flanagan's The Life Of Chuck, Francis Lawrence's The Long Walk and Edgar Wright's The Running Man – we know that The Monkey will be released in theaters on February 21, 2025.
This is a film that is highly anticipated by the CinemaBlend staff, so stay tuned for more news and updates about The Monkey, and for a weekly roundup of everything big going on in the world of Stephen King, check out my column The King Beat, which goes live every Thursday.
