James Wan's The Monkey: Everything we know so far about the Stephen King adaptation

Filmmaker James Wan, alongside some other veterans in the industry, is all set to bring The Monkey on the big screen. It is the latest adaptation of a short story with the same name written by horror legend, Stephen King. The project will reportedly star Theo James, who is best known for HBO's The White Lotus, and will be directed by Osgood Perkins.

Since the film's principal photography wrapped up just days ago, its release date is yet to be confirmed.

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What is the story of The Monkey?

Based on Stephen King's short story, the eerie premise of The Monkey follows twin brothers, Hal and Bill, as they discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic. This starts a chain of events that claim many lives, leading the siblings to throw the toy away.

However, the evil unleashed by this piece of artifact remains with the boys as deaths begin again years later. As a result, brothers reunite and embark on a mission to find the monkey and destroy it for good.

The story was originally a part of a booklet in Gallery magazine in 1980, but after gaining popularity, it was published once again as a part of King's Skeleton Crew in 1985. It remains one of the best-known and most-read short stories by the master of horror.

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Who is involved in The Monkey?

The biggest name in the mix for this Stephen King's adaptation is James Wan, who has been associated with horror genre for quite some time now. He has previously worked on supernatural films such as The Conjuring, The Nun and more.

Apart from Wan, who is producing the film, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, Chris Ferguson, Peter Luo, and Nancy Xu are also executive producing the project. Atomic Monster and Stars Collective are involved as the financiers, alongside C2 Motion Picture Group. Osgood Perkins has adapted the screenplay for the movie and is also directing it.

Theo James will likely portray the twin brothers in the story, though it has not been officially confirmed yet. The other cast members of The Monkey reportedly include Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and, Sarah Levy.

In a conversation with Deadline in May 2023, Wan spoke about the film:

"We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Osgood, James, Brian 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 the park with an amazing performance."

More details about The Monkey, including the full cast and crew, will be available soon. Stay tuned.