Another terrifying Stephen King short story has jumped to the big screen, and here’s what to know about The Monkey. Based on the eponymous short story originally published in 1980, The Monkey concerns a pair of brothers who discover a mysterious cymbal-playing monkey toy in the attic. Unfortunately for the unsuspecting siblings, someone close to them perishes every time the mechanical simian clangs its cymbals. Aping classic stories like The Monkey’s Paw, King’s underrated tale was one of his few works yet to see the screen.

As the iconic King of Horror’s career careens into its sixth decade, the popularity of the Maine-based wordsmith seemingly hasn’t faded. Movies based on Stephen King’s works continue to be blockbusters, and though King has had his fair share of misses, his books, novellas, and short stories have proven to be a nearly endless well for Hollywood. Now, one of King’s more understated works has finally gotten the adaptation treatment, and it has some big names in the cast which have helped make The Monkey another Stephen King smash-hit.

Stephen King’s The Monkey Box Office & Critical Reception

Great Reviews & Even Better Box Office Returns

Though Stephen King’s adaptations are notoriously hit or miss, The Monkey couldn’t fail with horror maven Oz Perkins at the helm. As such, the creepy tale scored high marks from critics overall, including a Rotten Tomatoes score in the high 70% range. Horror outlet Bloody Disgusting praised the movie for its gory humor, while Screen Rant docked the movie for lacking soul in the face of its absurdity. Overall, it seems as if the King adaptation pushed its over-the-top humor to the point where it alienated some viewers.

As for the film’s financial outlook, The Monkey continued NEON’s H๏τ streak of late, and finished second behind only a mᴀssive Marvel movie at the box office in its opening weekend. The Monkey grabbed over $14 million in its debut weekend (via Box Office Mojo), making it the second-biggest opening for NEON after 2024’s Longlegs. At this rate, the Oz Perkins opus should continue to build momentum throughout its theatrical run.

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Stephen King’s The Monkey Cast

Theo James Leads Alongside Elijah Wood & Tatiana Maslany

The lead roles are both played by Theo James, who stretched his range as twin brothers Hal and Bill. The star-studded ensemble grew in early 2024 with the addition of Elija Wood as Ted alongside Tatiana Maslany of She-Hulk fame, who plays Lois, Hal/Bill’s mom. Sweet Tooth standout Christian Convery plays the childhood versions of Hal and Bill, while Sarah Levy plays Hal and Bill’s aunt, Ida. Youngster Colin O’Brien plays Hal’s son Petey, and Rohan Campbell appears as Ricky.

The cast of The Monkey includes:

Actor	The Monkey Role
Theo James	Hal/Bill
Christian Convery	Young Hal/Bill
Tatiana Maslany	Lois Shelburn
Elijah Wood	Ted Hammerman
Colin O’Brien	Petey
Rohan Campbell	Ricky
Sarah Levy	Ida

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Stephen King’s The Monkey Trailers

Watch The Full Trailers Below

Though the movie wasn’t set to premiere until 2025, a teaser trailer for The Monkey was dropped in August 2024 that serves to increase the dread for the upcoming Stephen King adaptation. In the span of only 44 seconds, the teaser shows the creepy drumming monkey as the camera zooms in with distorted carnival music playing under the scene. Finally, the teaser concludes with a sH๏τ of Theo James’ Hall or Bill removing his glᴀsses in shock after being drenched in blood.

After the first teaser dropped a few sinister hints, a longer teaser trailer for The Monkey arrived in October 2024. Set to a jaunty beat, the blood-soaked and macabre trailer highlights just a few of the terrible deaths that will occur throughout the film. Also featured in the clip is director Oz Perkins’ unique style, and the symetrical camera work is in direct conflict with a world that is clearly going mad.

Further fleshing out the story of Oz Perkins’ nightmarish opus, the latest trailer for The Monkey debuted in January 2024. Narration in the trailer explains that Hal and Bill discovered the demonic toy as children and went to great lengths to destroy it. Unfortunately, the monkey has returned, and the twins must reunite in order to stop its reign of terror once again.

Stephen King’s The Monkey Ending & Spoilers

An Appropriately Bleak Ending For The King Adaptation

The ending of The Monkey didn’t pull any punches, and while it was humorously gory, it was also rife with less-than-subtle allusions to folklore and mythology. After diverging greatly from King’s short story, the movie does an excellent job of recouping some of its emotional weight in the final scenes, and never leaves behind its core ideas in favor of cheap thrills. Though most horror films nod toward a sequel as a rule, The Monkey is likely a one-and-done story with no follow-up necessary.

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