The Stephen King adaptations just keep coming. Theo James, fresh off season two of HBO’s The White Lotus, has signed on to star in horror film The Monkey based off the short story by King.
James Wan, one of the masterminds behind the highly successful Conjuring, Saw, and Insidious franchises, will produce alongside Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear (M3GAN).
Oz Perkins, a horror specialist behind February and the deeply underrated I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House, will write and direct.
In The Monkey, twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, leading to a series of gruesome deaths that begin 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 said in a statement: “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.”
This will be the first horror film of James’ career. In 2022 he had roles in satirical sci-fi thriller Dual and period drama Mr. Malcolm’s List. He’ll next be seen in the lead role in the TV adaptation of Guy Ritchie‘s The Gentlemen.
Perkins, the son of Anthony Perkins, is currently working on another horror film titled Longlegs, which will star Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe.
#Peace.Love.TheMonkey
