The firehose of Stephen King adaptations continues, and with the Cannes market coming up the water is on full blast. Theo James of The White Lotus and Divergent is set to star in The Monkey, an adaptation of the Stephen King short story. Osgood Perkins of Gretel & Hansel will direct, with James Wan adding his genre talents as a producer.
Perkins will direct based on his own screenplay. Here’s a synopsis of the King story:
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.
Wan is one of the most successful horror filmmakers around, having created The Conjuring Universe plus the Saw and Insidious franchises. He’ll produce through his Atomic Monster brand. He had this to say about the news:
“Stephen King is the godfather of the horror genre. He had a huge influence on me as a child and throughout my career and it’s always been a dream to help bring one of his stories to life. The Monkey is a personal favorite, with its simple, iconic, and incredibly marketable conceit. And I can’t imagine anyone better than a visionary and lifelong genre fan like Osgood to bring this to life.“
James had a busy 2022, starring in HBO Max’s short-lived The Time Traveler’s Wife series and season two of The White Lotus. He also starred in feature films Dual and Mr. Malcolm’s List.
Perkins has been a reliable genre filmmaker since his 2015 breakout, The Blackcoat’s Daughter. He is currently working on the upcoming horror Longlegs led by Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe.
