Longlegs director Osgood Perkins talked about all issues The Monkey in an unique interview with Leisure Weekly just lately. After the foremost success of his indie horror hit starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, Perkins informed EW that his odd concepts proved to be money-makers. When Theo James and the manufacturing head at James Wan’s firm Atomic Monster, Michael Clear, noticed his directorial debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, they knew they wished to work with Perkins. With Clear’s producer pal Peter Safran proudly owning the rights to Stephen King’s brief story a few cursed cymbal-crashing monkey however no working script, Perkins informed EW he took his likelihood to pitch a singular tackle the horror story.
“What if it is a comedy? Here is this monkey that does not do something. It is not ‘M3GAN.’It does not assault. It is evil simply in its existence. Issues occur round it for no higher cause than they do. Its presence makes folks die in insane methods.” – Osgood Perkins
Starring Theo James, who performs one of many estranged twin brothers, informed EW that Perkins got down to make an R-rated household movie, with darkness, coronary heart, and laughs at its middle. The filmmaker behind Gretel & Hansel found a private connection to The Monkey when drawing on his personal wild experiences with loss of life, which in his father’s, Psycho star Anthony Perkins’ case, got here within the type of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992. The director’s mom sadly handed away as a passenger on hijacked American Airways Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I’ve had folks die in really, deeply insane methods. Everyone dies whether or not there is a monkey or not. What should you may do that with a smile — course of the truth that all people dies? And what an insane, surrealist notion, dude! You will die; we’ll all die. That is loopy sh–. To try this as a comedy felt very apropos.” – Osgood Perkins
‘The Monkey’ Will Make You Scream, Chuckle, and Presumably Cry
The variation of horror legend Stephen King’s story about two brothers having to cope with large quantities of loss of life and household trauma additionally stars Yellowjackets and Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wooden. Wooden has already raved about his absurdly hilarious character Ted Hammerman, who’s married to the opposite twin’s ex-wife and, as Perkins places it, writes “pedantic how-to-be-a-father books.” Perkins informed EW that he wished to broaden upon the household themes inside the brief story, specializing in the dynamic of fathers and brothers.
“Oz described it because the monkey in your again, actually and existentially. There’s a literal monkey, a toy monkey, that is making an attempt to f—ing bloodbath everybody. On the identical time, it is somewhat little bit of a dissection of household historical past and household trauma. There’s a number of ranges to this story.” – Theo James
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The Monkey Teaser Brings Stephen King’s Story to Life in a Darkly Humorous Approach
Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) directs this new darkish comedy horror adaptation of Stephen King’s brief story, The Monkey, out in 2025.
Whereas there are certain to be loads of scares within the bloody horror movie, audiences can benefit from the lighter and funnier moments whereas considering their relationship with loss of life and their members of the family as nicely when The Monkey premieres in theaters on Feb. 21, 2025.
Tailored from the story of the identical title by Stephen King, The Monkey is a horror thriller movie that follows twin brothers Hal and Invoice, who uncover a mysterious monkey toy of their father’s attic that appears tied to a number of grizzly deaths. After years aside, the twins study that comparable deaths have begun once more and should reunite to destroy the monkey.