Summary

• The Monkey trailer teases a cursed toy leading to grisly deaths, starring Theo James.
• The film is based on King's 1980 short story, its first official adaptation on screen.
• Directed by Perkins, and produced by James Wan, the trailer highlights its renowned creative team.

The Monkey cast includes Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy.

Now, NEON has released the first teaser trailer for The Monkey. Check it out below:

Only 44 seconds long, the trailer teases the titular toy banging on its drum, which seems to be a harbinger of death, cutting to the film's lead star, Theo James, covered in blood.

The Monkey Trailer Highlights Its Incredible Creative Team

Who's Behind The Latest Stephen King Adaptation?

The Monkey trailer contains little footage of the actual film, and instead chooses to highlight the incredible creative team behind the horror movie. First off, it's based on a short story by Stephen King, whose work has been adapted to the screen countless times over the years to mixed results. The Monkey was published in 1980, and though the plot of the 1984 film The Devil's Gift was similar, the short story has never been officially adapted before and will finally get a chance to shine on the silver screen.

The Monkey is from producer James Wan, the co-creator of successful horror franchises such as Insidious, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun, and M3GAN.

The King adaptation is written and directed by Perkins, who is fresh off the successful run of Longlegs, his critically acclaimed occult serial killer movie that outperformed expectations by grossing $90 million at the box office. Perkins, the son of Psycho actor Anthony Perkins, has written and directed several other horror films – The Blackcoat's Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel – and is the perfect filmmaker to bring King's terrifying toy to life in The Monkey.

The Monkey trailer also reveals the first look at its lead star, Theo James, covered in blood. Previously known for Divergent, Underworld, and The White Lotus season 2, which earned him an Emmy nomination, James stars in a dual role as the twin brothers Hal and Bill. Though Christian Convery plays the brothers during their younger years, James will have more screen time portraying them as adults when they are haunted once more by the monkey's reappearance, and its drumming leads to renewed tragedies.

Source: NEON