Stephen King’s short story collection, Skeleton Crew, has long been a popular source of inspiration for filmmakers. Since its publication in 1985, five of the stories have been adapted for either the big screen or television – the standout being Frank Darabont’s horrifying monster-fest, The Mist. Soon enough, that number will be growing to six, as there is now a movie of “The Monkey” in the works with Osgood Perkins set to write and direct and James Wan attached to produce.
News of this project arrived in May 2023, and there are a lot of things for Stephen King’s Constant Readers to be excited about with the upcoming film. The movie is still in the early stages of development, but we’ve put together this guide to keep track of its progress. We’ll continue to update and add to it as more information comes to light, but for now this is what we know about the movie version of The Monkey.
What Is The Release Date For The Monkey
The Monkey does not presently have a release date. According to Deadline, the film is fully financed in addition to having producers, a writer/director, and a star attached, but it is going to be shopped at the Cannes Film Market for distribution. Until that big puzzle piece is in place, the movie won’t have a set place on the release calendar.
About The Short Story
“The Monkey” was first published in a booklet that came with the November 1980 issue of the magazine, Gallery, but it was five years later when it was included in Skeleton Crew that it was discovered by most readers. It’s a cursed object horror story, with the object in this case being one of those creepy monkey toys that wind up and bang a pair of cymbals together.
The story begins as Hal, the protagonist, joins his family in cleaning out his great uncle’s house. It is during this chore that Hal’s sons discover a toy monkey from their father’s childhood, and the sight of the thing immediately chills the man. He knows it as a source of pure evil. When he was a child, he found it in his father’s antique chest, and shortly thereafter he discovered a horrific pattern: the monkey would occasionally turn itself on and start clashing its cymbals, and soon afterward, somebody he loved would die. Eventually, young Hal threw the toy down a well hoping to get rid of it forever, but it resurfaces when Hal’s kids find it.
Hal knows that he has to get rid of the monkey before it can do harm to his family, and so he takes a perilous trip out to the middle of a lake to dump it. It’s an ordeal that he survives, but the short story ends with a newspaper clipping reporting that hundreds of fish from the lake have washed ashore dead.
Theo James Stars In The Monkey
Theo James had an incredibly busy 2022. He cameoed in the opening sequence of Riley Stearn’s Dual; starred in the HBO Max adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife; had a supporting part in the romantic comedy, Mr. Malcolm’s List; and earned widespread acclaim for his turn as Cameron Sullivan on the hit HBO series, The White Lotus. He’s kept working since then, having wrapped on the upcoming TV series, The Gentlemen (based on the 2019 Guy Ritchie film of the same name), and now he is ready to make his debut in a Stephen King adaptation.
Deadline's May 9, 2023 report that announced the film noted that he is set to star in The Monkey, and it’s possible that the project will give James the opportunity to play a dual role. The trade report announcing the movie’s development notes that the movie will deviate from the source material and not only have a more prominent role for Hal’s brother, Bill, but he’ll also be Hal’s twin (in the short story, Bill is two years older). If the brothers are made to be identical twins, James may have a special opportunity here.
While James is best known for his part in the Divergent franchise, and now The White Lotus, he has a few horror genre credits on his filmography, including two of the Underworld sequels with Kate Beckinsale and a voice role in Netflix’s animated Castlevania series.
Osgood Perkins Will Write And Direct The Adaptation
Should all go according to plan, The Monkey will be the fourth film from Osgood Perkins – all of his features being exercises in the horror genre. He made his directorial debut in 2015 with The Blackcoat’s Daughter starring Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka, and he followed that up with I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House in 2016. In 2020, he made the twisted fairy tale, Gretel & Hansel, starring IT’s Sophia Lillis, and that same year saw the release of his Season 2 episode of Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone (titled “You Might Also Like”).
As alluded to, his script for The Monkey will change a few things from the original short story by having a stronger focus on the relationship between Hal and Bill. The movie will see their relationship become strained because of the trauma they experience as kids, and they become estranged as a result, but the return of the eponymous toy and more death forces them to reunite.
Though James Wan has never directed a Stephen King adaptation, he is a producer on the upcoming remake of Salem’s Lot, which does not yet have a release date. It was reported in March 2018 that he was developing a big screen version of King’s novel The Tommyknockers, but we haven’t heard anything about that project moving forward. We have much higher hopes for The Monkey.
As noted earlier, we’ll continue to update this feature as new information about The Monkey becomes available, so check back in periodically to learn the latest news about the project. For the inside scoop about all of the Stephen King adaptations/projects in the works, head over to our upcoming Stephen King movies and TV guide, and learn about King’s long history with Hollywood by checking out my Adapting Stephen King column.
