The highly anticipated adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey has landed an official release for its theatrical debut.
The film is based on King’s short story of the same name and was first announced in 2023. Anticipation for the movie grew significantly when Osgood Perkins signed on to write and direct. Perkins’ latest horror movie, Longlegs, has been hailed as the best horror film of the year by early reviewers. He also previously proved his skill with the supernatural horror film The Blackcoat’s Daughter. Meanwhile, The Monkey also secured prolific horror film writer, director, and producer James Wan to produce. Combining the talents of King, Perkins, and Wan sounds like one of the best possible horror combinations one could come by.
Here’s everything we know so far about The Monkey.
The Monkey sets official 2025 release date
Recently, The Monkey set an official release date. The film will arrive in theaters on February 21, 2025, and will be distributed by Neon, which won a bidding war for the horror adaptation.
In addition to nabbing a strong creative team, The Monkey also has an impressive cast lined up. The Gentlemen’s Theo James will lead the film and portray identical twin brothers Hal and Bill, who are haunted by a vintage monkey toy they discovered as children. Sweet Tooth’s Christian Convery will portray young Hal and Bill. Only Convery’s and James’ roles have been confirmed so far. However, Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood also boast undisclosed starring roles in the film. Rounding out the cast are Rohan Campbell, Colin O’Brien, Laura Mennell, Sarah Levy, Kingston Chan, Zia Newton, and Danica Dryer.
According to Empire Magazine, the official synopsis for The Monkey reads:
When twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.
Although The Monkey will come from the same director and studio as Longlegs, Perkins told Entertainment Weekly that the two movies couldn’t be more different. According to him, The Monkey is essentially “a kids’ movie that’s rated R.” Hence, he has teased a playful tone but with “a lot of really excessive gore, language.” It seems he understands King’s sense of humor, promising quite a unique horror comedy film with The Monkey.
