While Neon was relentlessly promoting Oz Perkins’ “Longlegs,” which has so far earned $75M domestically, the filmmaker quietly finished shooting his next film, “The Monkey.” The film was recently dated by Neon for a February 21, 2025 release date. A teaser trailer has just been released.
Perkins recently wrapped production on “The Monkey”, also a Neon title, which is based on a short story by Stephen King, and which Perkins himself adapted. It stars Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campell, and Sarah Levy.
Last week, “The Monkey” test screened and I was told that, tonally, it’s completely different that “Longlegs.” It’s a “dark horror comedy” in the same vein as '“Fright Night” and American Werewolf in London.” However, Perkins is said to still maintain the sense of dread from his more serious films, enough so to make a toy monkey seem deeply unnerving and evil
“The Monkey” tackles twin brothers, Hal and Bill, who discover their father's old monkey toy in the attic, when 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.
I had never heard of King’s story, which was originally published in Gallery magazine in 1980, before being revised and reprinted in the 1985 collection, Skeleton Crew. Perkins shot this one very quickly — principal photography began in Vancouver on February 5, 2024, and wrapped on March 22, 2024.
As mentioned, Perkins has the much-hyped “Longlegs,” starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, in theaters. Neon recently boarded their third consecutive Perkins film, buying the rights for the already-shot “Keeper.”
Perkins, the eldest son of ‘Psycho’ himself, Anthony Perkins, is best known for his 2015 indie debut, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” and 2020’s “Gretel & Hansel.” Let’s hope the hype behind this guy is warranted, Neon’s betting a lot on his stock to rise in the coming years.