"The Monkey" is an upcoming horror film based on a story by Stephen King, published in the 1985 collection ‘Skeleton Crew’. The film is directed by Osgood Perkins, known for his work on "Longlegs", and produced by James Wan, renowned for his experience in the horror genre.
The story follows the two brothers Hal and Bill, who as children found a monkey toy in their father's attic that seems to be linked to a series of brutal deaths. After years of separation, the brothers reunite to finally destroy the evil toy, now that the mysterious deaths have started again.
The cast includes Theo James, who plays both brothers as adults, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, and Christian Convery as the brothers in their youth. The film, described by the director as a mix of horror and '80s-'90s nostalgia, will be released in U.S. theaters on February 21, 2025.
Talking about “The Monkey”, Perkins had declared to Hollywood Reporter that the movie is not a serious horror film:
"It feels more like an old film by John Landis, Joe Dante, or Robert Zemeckis. I saw the opportunity to make an ironic absurdist comedy about death. It starts from the fundamental concept that we all die... and how damn funny, bizarre, impossible, and surreal this crap is! Approaching it with the tones of a tragicomedy seemed fitting. After all, if you want to sum it up, it falls into the subgenre of the evil or cursed toy, and I couldn't imagine making a serious film on the subject. For me, approaching it that way would have felt false, so I chose to go in the opposite direction."