Longlegs director Osgood Perkins is promising horror fans a bloody good time in his next movie, an adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Monkey. Neon just released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming film, which debuted over the weekend with screenings of Cuckoo. You can watch it in the video above. In the teaser, a toy monkey creeps into view covered in shadow amid eerie notes of circus music. Theo James (The White Lotus) shows up just as suddenly, covered in enough blood to make even Homelander squeamish.
The Monkey follows twin brothers Hal and Bill (James) as they try to escape the curse of a vintage toy monkey that has haunted them since they found it in their father’s attic. As bodies continue dropping around them like flies, they finally decide that the only way forward is to reconcile the issues between them so they can bring down this murderous little monkey once and for all.
The Monkey
Adapted from the story of the same name by Stephen King, The Monkey is a horror mystery film that follows twin brothers Hal and Bill, who discover a mysterious monkey toy in their father’s attic that seems tied to several grizzly deaths. After years apart, the twins learn that similar deaths have begun again and must reunite to destroy the monkey.
- Release Date
- February 21, 2025
- Director
- Osgood Perkins
- Studio(s)
- Atomic Monster
- Distributor(s)
- Neon
Legendary horror filmmaker James Wan is one of the producers of The Monkey, which also stars Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Elijah Wood (Yellowjackets), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends), Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek), and Christian Convery (Cocaine Bear) as a younger version of the twins.
Still, Neon hasn’t released much information on the Stephen King adaptation aside from what can be discovered via a quick Google search. When will they release promo stills? What makes this vintage toy monkey so evil, and how will the twins defeat it? Fans will just have to discover The Monkey‘s terrifying mysteries in theaters.
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Osgood Perkins Brings The Monkey to the Screen
Stephen King published The Monkey as a short story in the 1980 edition of Gallery magazine, then republished it in the short-story collection Skeleton Crew, and it was later nominated for a British Fantasy Award. While the original follows brothers Peter and Dennis rather than Hal and Bill, the ominous claps of the toy monkey’s cymbals wreak just as much havoc.
According to Deadline, Perkins & co. wrapped filming for The Monkey back in March 2024 with the help of a dynamite team of producers that also includes Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play) and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious). Now they’re in the process of producing additional promos to get fans even more excited for what’s to come.
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Where other indie horror movies might’ve lingered in development hell, the promise of adapting a Stephen King original story must’ve given The Monkey a leg up. Financer Black Bear developed The Monkey and had it up for sale by June 2023, it had a core cast by March 2024, and is now being released in February 2025.
Dolls and toys in horror movies are usually a hit, and Perkins has already proven his ability to produce massively successful projects. The teaser trailer doesn’t reveal much, but it builds the right amount of anticipation for what the movie will eventually reveal. The Monkey hits theaters on February 21, 2025.
The film is produced by Atomic Monster’s James Wan (creator of the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises) and Michael Clear (M3GAN), as well as C2 Motion Picture Group’s Jason Cloth (Joker, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) and Dave Caplan (Babylon). Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious, Sinister) and Fred Berger (La La Land), Chris Ferguson (Afflicted, Child’s Play) and Stars Collective’s Peter Luo and Nancy Xu will executive produce, alongside John Friedberg (Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, Greenland) for Black Bear.