What do you do when you know you’ve made a sure-fire horror hit and want to keep pumping ’em out? If you’re Osgood Perkins, you jump headlong into your next project, even before Longlegs hit theaters, and you tackle some truly rarefied subject matter: You finally bring Stephen King’s classic short story The Monkey to the screen.
If you’re thinking you’ve seen this movie, you might be thinking of George Romero’s Monkey Shines, which has a similar poster design (and check that out! It’s great!). It’s got a great and straightforward premise and plenty of creepy (and fun) vibes to explore in place of excessive plotting or explanation (which, based on what we’ve heard from people dissatisfied with Longlegs, is what they need). Killer monkey toys? We’re in.
Neon dropped a red-band trailer for the film on Tuesday, so get ready for some blood-and-guts. Peep it (and remember, it is NSFW):
Here’s a synopsis, though you could always just go read Skeleton Crew (not only is it incredible overall, but it’s got our pick for best King horror short of all time in “The Jaunt”):
“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.”
The Monkey hits theaters on February 21, 2025, and it’ll kick off a year of Neon-released King adaptations, with Mike Flanagan’s excellent The Life of Chuck following later in the year. So, King fans, you’ll be eating good soon enough.