February 5, 2025

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

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First Trailer For The Monkey Released

An official image for The Monkey, which releases in 2025.

Image: © Neon

has released an official trailer for their upcoming horror film, .

Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, The Monkey will follow the story of a family who are torn apart by a series of outrageous deaths after two twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey.

The film is being written and directed by Osgood Perkins, the filmmaker behind Longlegs (2024). Perkins previously directed other horror genre entries such as Gretel & Hansel (2020) and The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015).

Perkins previously spoke more about the film to Bloody Disgusting's Boo Crew Podcast, saying “For me, ideally it's the movie that kids and their parents wanna go see together. People blow up, people explode; it's very extreme but it's very funny. It's very father-son redemption, it's very touching, it's very nostalgic, it's very .”

James Wan, creator of The Conjuring and Saw universes, serves as a producer for the film.

Neon also released an official poster for the film which promises an “outrageously gory” and “thoroughly gratuitous” experience, with instruments of death including a harpoon gun, a bowling ball, a shotgun, a hibachi knife, a lawnmower, and a stampede of wild horses.

The Monkey will star and . James starred in the hit HBO series The White Lotus (2021-present) and also voiced Hector in Netflix's Castlevania (2017-2021).

Wood is best known for playing Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy. His other credits include Deep Impact (1998), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006).

Sarah Levy, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, and Rohan Campbell also star.

King wrote The Monkey in 1980. It was then published in the author's 1985 short story collection, Skeleton Crew.

The Monkey will be released in UK cinemas on 21st February 2025.