Whilst Osgood Perkins' hotly anticipated Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe starring horror Longlegs may not have hit British shores just yet (though a July UK cinema release has finally been confirmed), the filmmaker — son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins — already has a date set for his next film. Adapted from the Stephen King short story of the same name, produced by James Wan, and boasting an impressive cast including Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, and Elijah Wood, The Monkey is slated to hit cinemas Stateside on 21 February, 2025. Check out the announcement made by distributor NEON on Twitter/X earlier below:
Described by Perkins in a recent Bloody Disgusting interview as "sorta like if Robert Zemeckis had just a little bit of acid and made a Stephen King picture about a monkey toy," The Monkey, whilst still very much a horror movie, will represent a change of tack for the Gretel & Hansel filmmaker as he seeks to corner the family-friendly frightener market. Based on the short horror story from King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, writer-director Perkins' film is set to expand on the master of horror's original tale about two brothers who discover a cursed monkey toy in their great uncle's attic.
Here's the official synopsis: "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."
As previously reported by Deadline, Sweet Tooth star Christian Convery will play the twins as kids, whilst Theo James will take on the dual role of both brothers as adults. As for how Maslany and Wood factor into the equation, their roles are currently being kept under wraps. But with serious talent both in front of and behind the camera for this one, and Perkins teasing something "very extreme, but very funny" that involves exploding people in his chat with Bloody Disgusting, it sounds like The Monkey is all set to go ape when it hits our screens. And rest assured, we'll bring you a UK release date just as soon as we've got one.