Stephen King’s The Monkey Wraps Filming with Theo James, Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood

Stephen King’s The Monkey finally has a release date. The tale of an evil toy monkey, based on one of King’s classic short stories from the early years of his career, will hit cinemas on February 21, 2025. A new poster for the movie was also unveiled, depicting the titular toy. Expectation is high thanks to the involvement of Osgood Perkins, who is about to unleash his viral sensation Longlegs, and acts as writer and director for this new King adaptation.

Previously, the movie’s all-star cast was revealed with the announcement that the newest adaptation of the horror master’s work had wrapped filming. The live-action adaptation of King’s short story has the added bonus of being produced by horror maestro James Wan, and is certain to be another popular entry in the ever-expanding world of King’s movies.

Stephen King’s The Monkey is one of his classic short stories, having originated in Gallery magazine back in 1980, and then been collected into his 1985 short story collection, Skeleton Crew – also included in the book is the novella The Mist, which was turned into Frank Darabont’s 2007 movie and a subsequent TV series. The Monkey tells the story of twin brothers Hal and Bill, whose discovery of their father’s old monkey toy in the attic sets off a series of gruesome events. Despite their attempts to rid themselves of the toy and move on, the brothers are forced to confront their past when the mysterious deaths resume years later.

Wan previously shared his love of the story and his praise for King’s work.

“Stephen King is the godfather of the horror genre. He had a huge influence on me as a child and throughout my career and it’s always been a dream to help bring one of his stories to life. ‘The Monkey’ is a personal favorite, with its simple, iconic, and incredibly marketable conceit. And I can’t imagine anyone better than a visionary and lifelong genre fan like Osgood to bring this to life.”

Who Stars in The Monkey?

Originally announced in May 2023, The Monkey has pulled together a strong cast to further boost its chances of being a hit, including Theo James, She-Hulk and Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, the upcoming Toxic Avenger reboot star Elijah Wood, as well as Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys) and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek). James will take on the central role of both adult twins in The Monkey.

James’ performance is one of the biggest selling points of the film according to producers Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan, who said:

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Osgood, James, Brian [Kavanaugh-Jones], and our friends at Black Bear International to present Stephen King’s ‘The Monkey.’ It perfectly checks the box of what is working in the marketplace right now and will be a hot property. We can’t wait for audiences to see Theo James in this role — he is really going to knock it out of the park with an amazing performance.”

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The film is one of several King projects coming soon, with other notable releases including the long-delayed release of Warner Bros. new adaptation of Salem’s Lot, IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, and Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck starring Tom Hiddleston.