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Looking for something to watch tonight? Netflix has a huge library of films, but we’re here to help. Here are 24 underrated films available to stream now…

There’s a lot of streaming services out there and their libraries have seemingly an unending amount of films, which means that a lot of gems get buried under bigger, better known films. It’s become a little scary trying to find something to watch, especially if you’re already familiar with the blockbuster-y films on the front page.

We’ve taken a deep five into the depths of Netflix and dug out lots of films you may not have come across, or even if you have, deserve another watch.

Here are 24 underappreciated films on Netflix UK that are well worth your time, in our humble view.

Unicorns Credit: Signature UK

Ben Hardy’s single dad Luke falls for a drag queen Aysha...

The Monkey, an adaptation of Stephen King‘s short story by the same name, from Oz Perkins, finally has a streaming release. Starring Theo James and Tatiana Maslany in the lead, the movie follows a family caught up amidst a sinister toy monkey’s grip after twin brothers Bill and Hal unearth it.

Although the adaptations of King’s works have had a mixed reputation in recent years, 2025 is proving to be a fresh turn with Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck and The Monkey, which is headed to Hulu on August 7.

Oz Perkins’ The Monkey Heads To Streaming Next Month

Having earned a respectable 77% rating on the Tomatometer, The Monkey is one of the better King adaptations and arguably one of the best in recent years. With a box-office total closer to $69M from a production budget of $10M (via Box Office Mojo), the movie has now secured...

Oz Perkins vuelve con más terror. © Neon

Neon ha publicado el primer tráiler y póster de Keeper, la nueva película del cineasta Osgood Perkins después de Longlegs y The Monkey.

Con un guion firmado por Nick Lepard (Dangerous Animals), Keeper sigue a una pareja (Maslany y Sutherland) que, para celebrar su aniversario, hace una escapada romántica de fin de semana a una cabaña aislada. Sin embargo, cuando él regresa repentinamente a la ciudad, ella se queda aislada y en presencia de un mal indescriptible que desvela los horripilantes secretos de la cabaña.

La película de terror está encabezada por Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey) y Rossif Sutherland (El cuento de la criada). Completan el reparto Kett Turton, Erin Boyes, Claire Friesen, Logan Pierce, Glen Gordon, Gina Vultaggio y Erin Tipple.

Te Puede Interesar Te entrarán escalofríos con el perturbador nuevo tráiler de la película ‘Devuélvemela’, lo nuevo de los directores de...

El nuevo vistazo apunta a más conexiones con la saga ‘Alien’. © 20th Century Studios

20th Century Studios ha desvelado el nuevo tráiler y póster de Predator: Badlands, la esperada nueva entrega de la franquicia Predator, dirigida por Dan Trachtenberg (Predator: La presa).

Predator: Badlands está ambientada en el futuro en un planeta remoto, donde un joven Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), rechazado por su propio clan, encuentra un inesperado aliado en Thia (Fanning). Juntos emprenden un peligroso viaje en busca de un adversario definitivo, dando un giro al icónico tropo: esta vez, el Depredador no es el villano, sino el héroe, ayudando a su compañera a enfrentarse a una amenaza diferente.

La película está protagonizada por Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) en un doble papel y Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi.

Te Puede Interesar El terrorífico nuevo tráiler de ‘Alien: Planeta Tierra’ anticipa monstruos que van más allá del Xenomorfo.

En una entrevista para Empire, Trachtenberg...

Stephen King has written more than 60 books during his illustrious career, and a significant portion of his stories have received Hollywood adaptations with many more in development. I don't have the exact numbers on this, but I have to imagine that King has had more of his works developed than almost any other author. In 2025 alone, we've had The Monkey and Mike Flanagan's take on his novella The Life of Chuck.

Coming up in the second half of the year, we'll see the premieres of The Long Walk, The Running Man, It: Welcome to Derry, and now, The Institute, which begins airing on MGM+ on Sunday, July 13. Flanagan is also working on a Carrie series for Amazon and a long-awaited adaptation of The Dark Tower.

The Institute is an eight-episode series brought to life by director Jack Bender (Lost) and writer Benjamin Cavell (Justified). The plot centers on a...

Following festival acclaim for his short Three Houses Down, Huffer teams with Screamify to develop a practical-effects-driven folk horror feature slated for a 2026 release.

Screamify, the independent horror streaming platform, has signed a development deal with writer/director Ty Huffer to produce and distribute his first feature-length horror film, slated for release in 2026. The project, currently untitled, is planned as a modern folk-horror tale involving a Norwegian black metal band, a witch, and a farm family. Huffer intends to shoot the film using all practical effects with no AI technology, staying true to the hands-on gore and creature work that characterized his earlier projects. The FX team includes award-winning artists James Fairley and Ret Harrison (Three Houses Down), a graduate of Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects program. This deal marks Screamify’s latest venture into original content production, aligning with the platform’s mission to champion independent horror filmmakers...

Neon, the award-winning studio and a leader in the independent horror space, will host the “Next Wave of Horror” panel on Friday, July 25, at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

The panel will feature exclusive sneak footage and a discussion with cinematic horror powerhouse Osgood Perkins and Tatiana Maslany for Keeper, Together‘s writer/director Michael Shanks, stars/producers Dave Franco and Alison Brie, and Shelby Oaks‘ debut feature filmmaker, Chris Stuckmann.

Together

After revolutionizing the independent horror landscape with Longlegs, which grossed over $100 million globally, Neon has proven to be a versatile independent distributor. With Together, Shelby Oaks, and Keeper, the studio will usher in a thrilling, fresh wave of horror that delivers something for every kind of scare lover.

Michael Shank’s body horror love story Together had audiences raving and squirming in their seats at Sundance and SXSW. Featuring knockout performances from Dave Franco and Alison Brie...

Osgood Perkins is to Neon as Ari Aster is to A24. Does that make sense? Both are acclaimed filmmakers known for their horror movies who have produced multiple hit movies for their respective indie distributors.

Perkins is set to continue making movies for Neon thanks to a new first-look deal involving his new banner, Phobos. The Hollywood Reporter shares that the director will run his company alongside partner Chris Ferguson and under the deal, "Neon will serve as the home for Perkins' projects, which he and Ferguson will produce."

Additionally, the deal allows for Phobos co-owners Perkins and Ferguson to produce other movies being released by Neon, who will be responsible for the theatrical releases in the United States and represent that international sales.

Perkins has directed several horror movies throughout the years, starting with his directorial debut The Blackcoat's Daughter and following it up with I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House...

Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of the new cast members of the upcoming Ready or Not 2. The highly anticipated sequel revealed its title, Ready or Not: Here I Come, recently.

The thriller horror Ready or Not came from Radio Silence, aka Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett. The movie was a massive critical and commercial success, and a sequel was announced to be in development in March 2024. Shortly after the cast and title announcement, Gellar confirmed during an appearance on the Today show that she is part of the upcoming sequel.

The appearance featured an unexpected Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion, as Gellar joined forces with her former co-star Alyson Hannigan to discuss their partnership with Gsk for the Ask2BSure campaign to raise awareness of meningitis vaccinations. When asked about current projects, the hosts brought up the fact that Gellar arrived from Toronto, Canada, where the sequel is currently in production.

Big casting news for Vince Vaughn‘s upcoming gangster thriller, The Bookie & the Bruiser, is upon us! Theo James is joining Vince Vaughn for the upcoming feature about living life dangerously in New York City in the 1950s.

The Bookie & the Bruiser finds Vaughn reuniting with S. Craig Zahler, who directed the actor’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete. Like the films above, Zahler will write and direct The Bookie & the Bruiser with Academy Award-winner Anthony Katagas producing via Keep Your Head Productions alongside Dave Caplan.

The Bookie & the Bruiser is set in 1959 New York City and features a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner (James) and an oversized Italian American tough named Boscolo (Vaughn). Having served in World War II, the two return as changed men, no longer fitting into their old lives. Unwilling to take orders or play by the rules of polite society,...

Exclusive: MRC and T-Street have rounded out the cast of their John Turturro crime thriller The Only Living Pickpocket in New York with five additions. They are Giancarlo Esposito (Captain America: Brave New World), Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey), Victoria Moroles (Never Have I Ever), Will Price (A Complete Unknown), and Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire).

No word on the roles to be played by these actors. Currently in production in New York City, the film follows Harry (Turturro), a career pickpocket who is forced into a desperate, high-stakes race against time through the streets of his city.

Noah Segan is directing from his own script. MRC is financing the project and producers for T-Street include Leopold Hughes, Katie McNeill and Ben LeClair.

Freshly cast in Amazon MGM’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother and crime thriller By Any Means, Esposito is coming off turns in Netflix’s The Residence and...

When it comes to authors who have had their works adapted into major feature films, Stephen King has few equals. 1976's Carrie from director Brian De Palma marks the first of the author's works to get the big-screen treatment, and it paved the way for dozens more in the decades that followed. Stanbley Kubrick's The Shining was released in 1980 and now stands as one of the most iconic and beloved adaptations of King's work, even if the author himself infamously doesn't care for it.

Rob Reiner's Stand By Me hit theaters in 1986, marking the first non-horror King adaptation. It would ultimately be followed by movies like The Running Man (1987), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and The Green Mile (1999). More than two decades later, new King movies continue to release at a regular cadence, including titles like Gerald's Game (2017), Pet Sematary (2019), Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022), The Boogeyman (2023), and Salem's Lot (2024). King's name alone,...

Despite falling short of Longlegsboth domestically and worldwide, director Osgood Perkins' follow-up feature, The Monkey, has done solid business at the box office. The horror film is adapted from a Stephen King short story, and is inching towards the $50 million mark at the global box office. Last year, Longlegs concluded its run with $125 million, cementing Perkins as a horror filmmaker to watch out for. Thanks to The Monkey's performance, the cumulative global box office haul of every King adaptation has nearly hit the $3 billion mark. On its 18th day of release, The Monkey is passing perhaps the most well-regarded of any King adaptation, The Shining.

Osgood "Oz" Perkins, the director in charge of the upcoming Stephen King film The Monkey, has revealed some of his favorite works by the author behind titles like It, The Shining and Salem's Lot. Perkins is the latest Hollywood visionary to bring one of King's works to the big screen. Early reviews showed that The Monkey is a winner in the pantheon of King's horror adaptations.

Per Bloody Disgusting, the director behind films like Longlegs and The Blackcoat's Daughter said this about adapting a work by "one of the great American authors. I suppose the unique challenge in adapting a Stephen King story is parsing out 'Oh, it’s the greatest author of all time in the genre, one of the great American authors of all time,' and sort of letting that aspect not become daunting. Once you kind of get into harmony with the world of Stephen King...

According to a new press release, "In a first of its kind, Neon is giving the gift of Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey to all of God’s children by making it available to screen in churches across the country simultaneously with theaters." That's right, and authorized religious institutions can submit their requests by going to the website God's Bowling Strikes Tonight. Perkins apparently explained at the film's premiere that the phrase stems from a time when someone told him that, when many people die at once, "God's bowling strikes tonight."

Neon

The website's header reads, "Share the Gift of The Monkey With Your Congregation." It then quotes the famous Biblical passage, Revelation 6:8, which reads, "And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with...

The Monkey, the latest terrifying film from director Osgood Perkins, is coming to theaters on February 21. But in an unusual move, Neon has announced plans to offer church screenings of the film at the same time as its theatrical release. Yes, you read that right—your local church might just become a horror movie venue.

Churches across the U.S. can request a screening through a website with the ominous name godsbowlingstrikestonight.com. The site, which has a ‘90s-style design and features a sunlit cross, quotes a passage from the Bible—Revelation 6:8—which speaks of death and destruction.

“And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

The application form is surprisingly simple,...

Oz Perkins is back with another horror film, and this time, he’s diving headfirst into carnage and dark humor. The Monkey, based on Stephen King’s 1980 short story, follows twin brothers who discover a cursed toy monkey—one that triggers a series of brutal deaths every time it clangs its tiny cymbals. The early reviews are in, and critics are loving The Monkey. They’re calling it one of the goriest Stephen King adaptations to date, packed with twisted humor, inventive kills, and a gripping dual performance from Theo James. While Perkins is known for his moody, atmospheric horror films, this movie marks a new direction for him—one that’s bloodier, funnier, and far more chaotic.

First Reviews Reactions to ‘The Monkey’: A New Side of Oz Perkins

Many critics in their reviews note that The Monkey feels like a departure from Perkins’ previous work. While his...

Oz Perkins has been kicking around Hollywood for some time now, starting out as an actor before pivoting to directing with movies like "Gretel & Hansel" and "The Blackcoat's Daughter" to his name. But Perkins elevated himself to the next level last year with the release of "Longlegs," which became the biggest indie horror hit in more than a decade. Neon then looked very smart, as the company had already partnered with Perkins for his next film, an adaptation of Stephen King's short story "The Monkey." So, with a red-hot director and horror's greatest author teaming up, can this movie become an even bigger hit?

"The Monkey" is currently eyeing an opening weekend between $17 and $25 million, per Box Office Theory. That is stellar news as the film is said to carry a budget in the $11 million range. Mind you, this was already mostly filmed by the time "Longlegs" became an unexpectedly huge hit.

Filmmaker Osgood Perkins burst into the mainstream with last year’s critical and audience favorite Longlegs, and fans didn’t have to wait long to see what the filmmaker had up his sleeve next. Pairing Perkins with producer James Wan (The Conjuring) and a story by iconic horror author Stephen King, The Monkey is likely not what audiences are expecting from the Longlegs director, but it’s all the better for it.

The Monkey Review

Adapted from a short story in King’s Skeleton Crew collection, The Monkey is set in a small town shaken by a string of gruesome accidental deaths after the discovery of a toy monkey that is suspected of being cursed. As is often the case with King adaptations, The Monkey uses the short story’s concept while altering its events quite significantly. The result here is a not particularly groundbreaking but very satisfying genre picture.

Of all the striking things about The Monkey, and there are many, one of the most interesting to note is its runtime. At 98 minutes, The Monkey delivers not only everything promised by the horror-comedy genre, but great performances, excellent direction, and an incredibly incisive take on modern masculinity. This is to say that a movie can be short, relatively low budgeted, and simple in concept, yet executed at an absolutely elite level across the board. We live in the days of bloated budgets and run times which, more often than not, fail to deliver meaningfully. The Monkey is the antidote.

Of course, if you aren't game for some graphic Looney Tunes-level violence played straight in a deeply moody setting carefully crafted by emerging master Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), then you should consider passing on this one. But you'll be missing so much.

Shock the Monkey

The MonkeyRHorrorComedy4/5Release DateFebruary 19, 2025Runtime98 MinutesDirectorOsgood PerkinsWritersOsgood PerkinsProducersJohn Rickard,...

Film production company Neon continues to prove itself a master of marketing its titles, as the publicity campaign for The Monkey continues to intrigue and get people excited for Osgood Perkins' next horror movie. Ranging from everything to respiratory stimulants to large and ominous billboards, The Monkey's marketing campaign has worked hard to help distinguish the movie from the rest of the major films due for release this month. Case in point: the newest theatrical poster for the movie is an homage to Paul Schrader's 1979 film, Hardcore.

The poster features a quote from one of Theo James' characters at the center, saying, "The Monkey that likes killing our family... It's back." The memorable poster for Schrader's Hardcore has a quote about the main character's daughter, with both posters featuring the film's leading actor in the middle right section. It's a clever homage that helps reinforce The Monkey's stylistic...

Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, examines the conflict between tradition and modernity through grotesque humor and chilling horror. The film delves into profound themes—death, trauma, and family breakdown—through an American horror-comedy that speaks to global viewers. The cursed toy monkey represents generational pain, a concept that echoes across different cultural perspectives on inherited struggles.

The film’s narrative weaves slapstick humor with visceral violence, reminiscent of movies like Final Destination, where unexpected deaths occur with a chaotic rhythm. Perkins crafts deaths that are simultaneously grotesque and comedic, creating a cinematic experience that extends beyond American storytelling, exploring deeper human experiences of mortality.

The Monkey transcends traditional horror boundaries. Its exploration of familial trauma and death creates a provocative dialogue that connects with viewers worldwide. Dark humor and absurdity challenge cultural limitations, presenting death as both an unavoidable and ridiculous human experience...

Stephen King doesn’t miss. The author has penned many a story that have inspired movies, that on their part have inspired both fear and awe from the fans. The Monkey is no different.

While The Shining is considered one of the most well-known adaptations of King’s works, the 2025 release is no pushover either. The Monkey could very well be set to seal its place in the history books for breaching a record that not many Stephen King movies have managed to do.

The Monkey seems to have set the bar high The Monkey is the latest in the line of Stephen King adaptations out to scare fans left, right, and center || Image by Kevin Payravi, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It all began in 1976 with Carrie. That was the first Stephen King story to be adapted into a live-action film. And there was no turning back...

"Death runs in the family." ☠ Warner Bros / New Line Cinema have unveiled the first teaser trailer for a horror sequel arriving this summer Final Destination: Bloodlines, hitting theaters in May in just a few months. Including in IMAX in addition to theaters worldwide. "If you screw with Death's plans, things can get very... messy." From co-directors Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein (of Freaks) comes this reinvention of the Final Destination series, a prequel exploring the origins of "Death's twisted sense of justice." This is the 6th movie in the Fd series so far. In the 1960s, a grandmother predicts the collapse of a building and saves a group of people from death. Decades later, her granddaughter also begins to have visions of the death of her family members and later begins to realize that there is a sequence. Starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt,...

The Monkey, Osgood Perkins' latest horror film, is finally set for release later this month. For those wondering how the film stacks up to his 2024 film Longlegs, the first reviews for the movie based on Stephen King's short story of the same name have dropped, and the consensus seems to be primarily positive. On the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, The Monkey has a 91% fresh rating, albeit with only 11 reviews submitted. Still, reviews published at various other outlets that have yet to make their way on the site have praised The Monkey for its interesting tonal balance that stands apart from other King adaptations.

What stands out most about The Monkey in several reviews is how it handles the kills and gore compared to Perkins' more subdued yet still disturbing film Longlegs, which starred Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. Emma Kiely's 7/10 review for Collider states how the tonal juxtaposition...

Take what you know about Oz Perkins' filmmaking and set those signatures ablaze. The Monkey is unlike anything Perkins has helmed thus far (complimentary). It's morbidly hilarious, high-energy, and smothered in an avalanche of gore. Perkins' adaptation of Stephen King's short story (included in Skeleton Crew) is a comically bleak confrontation of Death that notches spectacular kill scenes at a brisk clip. Imagine a Twilight Zone episode influenced by Final Destination and an 80s-sized mountain of cocaine — that's The Monkey. I would never have guessed Perkins had this midnighter mentality in his arsenal, holstering his penchant for slow-burn thrills and lingering, whispering dread.

Central to the story are Hal and Bill, twin brothers cursed by a drumming toy monkey they find in their deadbeat dad's closet (papa's played by Adam Scott). Hal and Bill's mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany) does her best to raise adolescent boys alone, until she drops...

The Monkey director Osgood Perkins reveals why he changed Stephen King's story into a comedy and what the author's reaction was. Based on King's 1980 horror short story, the upcoming movie stars Theo James as twin brothers Hal and Bill, following the characters as they experience a series of shocking deaths after they discover their father's toy monkey. As is revealed in The Monkey's trailer, Perkins has added a great deal of dark comedy to the original King story, in addition to an abudance of blood and gore.

In a recent interview with Empire, Perkins breaks down his approach to The Monkey, affirming that his take on the story is very different from the source material. "I took liberties like a motherf--ker," he says. He reveals that James Wan's production company, Atomic Monster, optioned the rights to King's story several years ago, and that they approached him to direct it.

2025 is starting strong with some high-profile releases early in the year, and February is especially interesting for the comic book and horror movie genres. The Josh Ruben-directed horror film Heart Eyes is set to hit the weekend before Valentine's Day, which is when Captain America: Brave New World premieres. However, another highly anticipated film comes at the end of February, with The Monkey hitting theaters on February 21st. The film has just had its first screenings for critics, and all the reactions mostly say the same two things: it's incredibly gory but hilarious.

Directed by Osgood Perkins, who recently made waves for his terrifying slow-burn horror Longlegs last year, The Monkey is based on a short story by Stephen King and produced by James Wan. The film's premise is simple but terrifying: a toy monkey discovered by twin brothers unleashes a series of inexplicable deaths seemingly tied to the toy's presence.

We all know that those little cymbal-crashing toy monkeys are some of the creepiest items to ever hit the market. They just look evil, so it’s no wonder that Stephen King was drawn to them as a source of terror. Now, Osgood Perkins is hoping to do justice to King and the source, with The Monkey arriving in theaters next month. As it turns out, the movie screened just this week. So, did Perkins deliver on the simian scares?

Fortunately for fans of both Stephen King and Osgood Perkins, it looks like The Monkey is just the level of horror fun that will be a crowd pleaser, with those that caught the screening praising it for combining blood and laughs. Check out some of the first reactions to The Monkey below:

Adored #TheMonkey. Oz Perkins has been one of the most exciting genre filmmakers since he started and his...

It’s a toy monkey?

It’s evil, it’s basically the devil.

When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.

Based on the Stephen King short story, and produced by James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw), The Monkey is a new trip from Longlegs writer/director, Osgood Perkins.

Buckle in and check out the crazy trailer below.

The Monkey stars Theo James, Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood.

The film hits theaters on February 21st.

In an interview with Empire, the filmmaker says of the gore, “All the death set-pieces were hard to do,” Perkins says. “They all have a Rube Goldbergian connectivity — this happens, then this happens, then this happens…”

The result might not be exactly what audiences are expecting after Longlegs.

There are several Stephen King adaptations in the works, with the prolific horror and sci-fi writer returning to Derry with an HBO series, but also several more adaptations. One of them is The Monkey, which has Osgood "Oz" Perkins at the helm.

The upcoming horror comedy is loosely based on King's 1980 short story of the same name, and Perkins wrote and directed the film. The Monkey follows a cursed toy monkey who starts a violent killing spree. In a new interview with Empire, the director promised The Monkey will be "extreme."

Related 'It's Not Just a Movie': Mike Flanagan's Upcoming Stephen King Adaptation Gets Rave Review From Star

The film has already received an important award following its world premiere.

"If you’re going for comedy then you’re going for extremes. Not subtlety," Perkins teased about the upcoming film, The Monkey. "We are guilty of putting far more...

The horror scene in 2024 was dominated by Longlegs. Osgood Perkins’ occultist shocker became an instant genre classic – not just for its ‘Silence Of The Lambs goes to hell’ vibe, or that Nicolas Cage performance. It was also full of surprises, narrative and tonally, taking audiences on a wild ride. And with his imminent new film, Perkins is ready to take fans by surprise all over again. The Monkey – a loose Stephen King adaptation – is an absurdist tale of death-by-toy-ape, one that aims to take the undercurrent of dark humour in Longlegs and bring it to the fore. Oh, and it’s going to be seriously gory.

“If you’re going for comedy then you’re going for extremes. Not subtlety,” Perkins tells Empire of where he’s landed with The Monkey. “We are guilty of putting far more blood in our human bodies than is really in a human body.

Another terrifying Stephen King short story is coming to the big screen, and there are already a ton of exciting updates 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 is 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...

Back in March, we heard that production had wrapped on the Stephen King adaptation The Monkey, which is coming our way from the team of producer / genre regular James Wan and director Osgood Perkins, whose credits include The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Gretel & Hansel, and the recent Nicolas Cage horror film Longlegs (you can read our review Here). Longlegs was released by Neon – and they’ll also be giving The Monkey a theatrical release on February 21, 2025. And now, as a spooky Christmas treat, Neon has put out a new clip guaranteed to send some shivers down your spine.

A little while ago Entertainment Weekly unveiled a batch of images from the film (plus a behind-the-scenes image), and those can be seen at the bottom of this article.

Perkins wrote the screenplay for The Monkey, working from a King short story.

In an exciting new development, Squid Game breakout star Hoyeon has just been cast in the upcoming thriller The Hole. This comes only days after learning that Theo James will star in the film.

Like James, Hoyeon is an Emmy-nominated actor. She's best known for her captivating performance as Kang Sae-byeok in the smash-hit survival drama series Squid Game. She's currently starring in the psychological thriller miniseries Disclaimer and will be seen next in the upcoming sci-fi thriller flick Hope. We can't wait to see her bring her talent to The Hole.

The Hole is based on Hye-young Pyun's 2017 book of the same name. I Saw The Devil director Kim Jee-woon is signed on to direct the film from a script written by Christopher Chen. Production will reportedly start sometime in Q1/Q2 2025. In addition, scenes will be shot both in the U.S. and South Korea.

The thriller revolves around Owen,...

Among the upcoming adaptations of the works of Stephen King is The Monkey, and it already has a huge advantage after the divisive 2024 remake of Salems Lot. The short stories and novels of Stephen King continue to be a source of inspiration for many filmmakers, and there are always adaptations in the works. 2024 finally saw the release of the long-awaited remake of Salems Lot, directed by Gary Dauberman and based on Kings 1975 novel of the same name, which faced many obstacles and delays after having an initial release date of September 2022.

Salems Lot takes the audience back to the 1970s to follow Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), a writer who returns to his hometown of Salems Lot for inspiration for his new book. When a young boy mysteriously disappears, Ben becomes the main suspect, but subsequent deaths and disappearances reveal the shocking truth: the Lot is being preyed on by a...

Stephen King’s work is once again poised to bring terror to audiences around the globe with the upcoming release of The Monkey, a new supernatural horror film based on the author’s 1980 short story. Directed by Osgood Perkins and produced by horror heavyweight James Wan (The Conjuring), the film is set to hit cinemas across the UK and Ireland on February 21, 2025.

The story follows twin brothers Hal and Bill, played by Theo James and Elijah Wood, who stumble upon their father’s old toy monkey while rummaging through the attic. The discovery marks the beginning of a series of gruesome and inexplicable deaths surrounding the siblings. The brothers, desperate to leave their childhood nightmare behind, dispose of the cursed toy and grow apart over the years. But when the deaths resurface, the two are forced to reunite and confront the supernatural threat in a terrifying final showdown.

This eerie adaptation has been long anticipated,...

A new Stephen King adaptation is coming to theaters early next year. Neon has released the first teaser trailer for The Monkey, the latest movie from Longlegs writer/director Osgood Perkins.

"For the longest time, there was nothing. But then it appeared. A beast not from this earth. Smiting the ones who deserved it, the ones who didn't, and everyone in between. Whoever controls it, controls life and death. And those deaths are really fucked up," the trailer's narration states, as close-up shots of the vintage toy monkey are shown, spliced between shots of various gruesome accidents. The Monkey is based on the 1980 short story by King and will be Perkins' fifth directorial effort and the first to be released after his wildly successful horror-thriller, Longlegs, which grossed over $100 million worldwide off a less than $10 million budget. Check out the official Redband teaser trailer and poster for The Monkey below.

The first teaser trailer has been released for The Monkey, a feature film based on a Stephen King story. It serves as the next film from director Osgood Perkins, who's been riding a recent wave of success with the Nicolas Cage film Longlegs.

Shared by Neon on Monday, the teaser showcases a sneak peek at the drumming monkey toy along with a bloodied Theo James, who stars in the film's lead role. Circus-like music plays all along as the monkey pounds on its drum, touting how the film is produced by horror vet James Wan. The teaser also highlights the release date, which is Feb. 21, 2025. The video can be watched below.

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Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, The Monkey is...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Longlegs (2024)

Longlegs delivers a shocking twist ending that solidifies its status as a horror classic. Director Osgood Perkins' upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Monkey, will explore similar themes of cursed toys controlling lives. Longlegs paves the way for Perkins to enter the horror mainstream, building on the success and audience goodwill generated.

Now that Longlegs has arrived, the serial killer thriller proves that one of Stephen Kings upcoming adaptations could become a horror classic. Director Osgood Perkins gained some critical acclaim for 2015s The Blackcoats Daughter, 2017s I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In the House, and 2020s Gretel and Hansel. However, Longlegs marks his first bonafide box office hit. 2024s critically acclaimed Longlegs follows Maika Monroes FBI agent Lee Harker as she tries to track down Nicholas Cages terrifying titular serial killer. Effectively chilling and enigmatic, Longlegs won over critics and audiences upon release.

Back in March, we heard that production had wrapped on the Stephen King adaptation The Monkey, which is coming our way from the team of producer / genre regular James Wan and director Osgood Perkins, whose credits include The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Gretel & Hansel, and the upcoming Nicolas Cage horror film Longlegs , which will be reaching theatres on July 12th (you can read our review Here), courtesy of Neon – and they’ll also be be giving The Monkey a theatrical release on February 21, 2025. So we’ll be getting two Osgood Perkins movies from Neon just seven months apart – and while doing the press rounds for Longlegs, Perkins has revealed that he has made The Monkey “deliberately comedic.”

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Perkins was asked to confirm that The Monkey is “the funniest movie he’s ever made?...

Quick Links Stephen King's The Monkey Latest News Stephen King's The Monkey Release Date Stephen King's The Monkey Cast Stephen King's The Monkey Story Stephen King's The Monkey: Further News & Info The Monkey is an upcoming movie adaptation of a Stephen King short story, set to be released in winter 2025. The film boasts a star-studded cast including Theo James, Elijah Wood, and Tatiana Maslany. Based on King's story, The Monkey follows twin brothers dealing with a deadly toy monkey that causes supernatural mayhem.

Another terrifying Stephen King short story is coming to the big screen, and there are already a ton of exciting updates 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.

The Monkey, based on a Stephen King short story, will be released theatrically in 2025. Expectations are high for The Monkey to be a successful box office hit, despite recent inconsistencies with adaptations of King's works. The film stars Theo James, promising to continue his current career boom after roles in The Gentlemen and White Lotus.

The Monkey, starring Theo James, has been given its 2025 release window. The Monkey is a short story written by Stephen King that was initially published in 1980, as part of a booklet in Gallery Magazine, then revised and included in his Skeleton Crew collection of short stories. The plot follows two brothers who find a cursed cymbal-banging toy monkey in the attic of their great-uncle's home, only to discover that every time it bangs its cymbals someone close to them dies.

According to reports in Deadline, the movie adaptation of the story will be released theatrically...

Before he became a professional actor, Dev Patel was a competitive martial artist. Really. The British-born son of Indian immigrants took up Taekwondo at the age of 10 in a neighborhood dojo where he’d go on to earn a black belt. Furthermore, only three years prior to his breakout on the TV series Skins, young Patel won a bronze medal at the Action International Martial Arts World Championships in Dublin. It was a defining moment in his youth. It was also something—he concedes on the other side of completing his first action film, the ferocious Monkey Man—which has always been in the back of his mind.

“I learned so much about how to channel my energy and how to find discipline, and it was amazing,” Patel tells us after the film’s rapturous world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. “So [I knew] if I ever had the opportunity to...

Exclusive: Three former Automatik execs are launching a new production company.

Justin Levy, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger have launched Station26, which is backed with a first-look deal at A+E Studios and Range Studios. Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger are still Partners and Co-Presidents of Film & Production at Range.

It comes after Range Media Partners merged with Automatik earlier this year.

Station26 will be run by Levy as President alongside Mariel Redlin, who previously worked with Levy at Automatik, as VP of Production for Scripted Television.

It launches with a development slate and a number of projects already set up at streamers including limited series Black Rabbit at Netflix with Jason Bateman and Jude Law.

Levy had been with Automatik since 2018 as part of its plan to ramp up into television. He recently exec produced Kaleidoscope for Netflix. He joined the company in 2018, having been president of television from Imperative Entertainment, the...

The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel director Osgood Perkins has been working with Nicolas Cage on a new horror project called Longlegs, and now he has just set up the horror project he’ll be moving on to when Longlegs is all wrapped up: an adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Monkey! Theo James of The White Lotus has already signed on to star in the film, which is being produced by genre regular James Wan.

Perkins will be directing The Monkey from his own screenplay. The film will tell the following 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.

Another Stephen King adaptation is in the works, with Deadline reporting today that James Wan’s Atomic Monster will produce a feature film adaptation of King’s The Monkey.

The Monkey is a short horror story that appeared in Skeleton Crew, a 1985 collection that also featured The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft, Survivor Type, The Reach, and more.

Theo James (“White Lotus”) will lead the cast of The Monkey.

Osgood Perkins will direct! Perkins also wrote the screenplay for the feature film adaptation.

“In The Monkey, 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...