Coming off one of the best-reviewed, buzziest and biggest box office indie horror/thriller movies in years in Longlegs, writer/director Osgood Perkins already has his next project on the horizon, an enticing collaboration with James Wan and Stephen King titled The Monkey.
That is quite the horror trifecta. King, of course, is one of the most famous writers of horror in the world, with many of his stories having received the movie treatment, including The Shining, IT, Carrie and more; The Monkey is one of his short stories that to our knowledge has not been adapted before. Wan, meanwhile, has been behind popular horror movies like Saw, The Conjuring and Malignant as a writer, director or producer; he's a producer on The Monkey. Paired with one of the hottest horror directors right now in Perkins, and The Monkey has a lot of creative force behind it.
Here's everything you need to know about The Monkey.
The Monkey release date
Set to be one of the early headliners of the 2025 new movie slate, The Monkey is releasing exclusively in movie theaters on February 21, 2025.
That is the US release date. At this time, we don't have a confirmed UK release date for the movie.
The Monkey cast
Theo James gets top billing in The Monkey, but The White Lotus season 2 and The Gentlemen star is not the only big name starring in the movie. Other notable names in The Monkey cast include Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law).
The rest of the cast includes Laura Mennell (Project Blue Book), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Sarah Levy (Schitt's Creek), Colin O’Brien (Wonka) and Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys).
The Monkey plot
Neon has not shared an official synopsis for The Monkey, but here is one for the story via Amazon:
"Hal didn't know where it had come from, but every time the moth-eaten monkey with the strange yellow eyes clashed his cymbals, jang, jang, jang… somebody died. An irresistible urge had made him turn the key, but that was before he knew what it could do. He thought he had gotten rid of the evil thing once and for all. But the monkey had other plans for Hal."
The Monkey trailer
The Monkey has received a teaser trailer thus far. It's only 44 seconds long but it touts the three creatives behind the movie and teases a bloody Theo James seemingly looking on in horror at the toy monkey. Give it a watch below:
Now a redband teaser gives us some more footage and a little idea of the plot, and I'll be honest, the trailer makes it look like a fun, gory time. Check it out here:
Osgood Perkins movies
Osgood Perkins is riding a high following the hit of Longlegs, but check out the director's full list of feature credits to date:
- The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015)
- I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
- Gretel & Hansel (2020)
- Longlegs (2024)
