“The Monkey” is the latest adaptation of a Stephen King work, adapted from his story that was first published, included in Gallery magazine in 1980; it was revised and collected in King’s collection Skeleton Crew in 1985.
The story follows a cursed cymbal monkey where every time a cymbal is hit, somebody dies. (The person who turns the key in the back of the monkey won’t be the victim.)
In the trailer for the film, it shows that the monkey bangs a drum instead of cymbals. This is because Disney owns the rights to the cymbal monkey, who they used in 2013 for Toy Story 3.
The film stars Theo James from ‘Divergent’ in a dual role, playing both brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn. The film is made by Osgood Perkins, writer/director of 2024’s horror-hit ‘Longlegs’ and produced by ‘The Conjuring’ universe and ‘Saw’ creator, writer-director James Wan.
The company behind the film, Neon—who also produced Perkins’ ‘Longlegs’—has been cleverly marketing this movie by showcasing and permitting it in a funeral session which is the film’s premiere… ata church at the Hollywood Cemetery and having a 8-foot tall monkey statue in cinema lobbies.
For the marketing, Neon pitched a trailer for the film on major television networks — four in total, though and all four unnamed studios rejected the spot, because of the “excessive violence” showcased in the trailer. Screenshots of email discussions from the networks were used by Neon, having all four studio’s identifying information redacted. Neon also promoted the movie by having the movie premiere alongside, having showings at local churches.
Filming began shortly after the 2023 Cannes Film Market, film-financer Black Bear Pictures announced that an adaptation of “The Monkey” was in development and was up for sale to film distributors. Filming began from February 5 to March 22, 2024, taking place in Vancouver.
The original story by King has a cymbal-banging monkey, but the film replaces it with a drum. According to Perkins, this change was made because a producer of the film believed that The Walt Disney Company owned the rights to the cymbal-banging toy because of the toy’s appearance inToy Story 3.
Perkins went on an interview with Empire magazine about the comedic elements of the film: “I took liberties like a mothertfucker. Atomic Monster had a very serious script. [Very serious.] I felt it was too serious, and I told them: ‘This doesn’t work for me. The thing with this toy monkey is that the people around it all die in insane ways. So, I thought: ‘Well, I’m an expert on that.’ Both my parents died in insane, headline-making ways. I spent a lot of my life recovering from tragedy, feeling quite bad. It all seemed inherently unfair. You personalize the grief: ‘Why is this happening to me?’ But I’m older now and you realize this shit happens to everyone. Everyone dies. Sometimes in their sleep, sometimes in truly insane ways, like I experienced. But everyone dies. And I thought maybe the best way to approach that insane notion is with a smile.”
The total production cost was $10–11 million, with total worldwide box office currently earning
so far $21.6 Million. The film premiered in early January at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre as part of the Beyond Fest.
At AMC Theaters, you can buy a popcorn bucket replica of the monkey, where the arms are moveable but not the key. At neonrated.com, you can buy shirts featuring kills from the movie, one, for example, says “Rest In Piece Chip”, a replica of the monkey (moveable arms and key); and a set of four pins. Prices from these items retail for $25 to $30 and even as high as $125.
Stephen King described the film as “batshit insane.”
“The Monkey,” which at the end has a post-credit teaser for Perkins’ next film, “Keeper;” is a must see for people who believe in bludgeon and raging turbulent tempestuous violent monkeys.
