After having taken everyone by surprise with the chilling “Longlegs”, considered by fans of the genre and critics one of the best horror titles of 2024, the brilliant Osgood Perkins has returned in a short time to occupy the theaters with another of his unmissable titles. Based on the story of the same name by Stephen King, “The Monkey” stands out from the investigative and esoteric tone of the previous film to adopt a style halfway between comedy and horror.
With the production contribution of the master James Wan, to whom we owe such hugely successful sagas as “Saw”, “Insidious” and “The Conjuring”, “The Monkey” is now available in Italian theaters, and the first results at the box office prove that the launch lives up to expectations. According to the latest data provided by Cinetel, the title currently occupies third place in the rankings with a takings of 365,710 euros and a number of 45,924 admissions in theaters, placing itself immediately after the Disney live action “Snow White” and the romantic comedy “Follemente”.
Even in the US market, “The Monkey” proves that it has not gone unnoticed, especially after the resounding advertising campaign that preceded it and which saw the direct involvement of Stephen King. Placing itself in second place behind the comic book film “Captain America - Brave New World”, the film obtains 14.2 million in its debut from the screening in 3,200 theaters with an average per theater of 4,437 dollars; thus establishing the second best debut ever for the distributor Neon immediately after “Longlegs”.
The horror nature of the title revolves around the disturbing forms of a moving monkey: apparently a common children's toy, inside which hides a dark power capable of ruining the unfortunate victims. The toy will unexpectedly end up in the hands of the twins Hal and Bill, who will discover to their dismay that its operation will lead to a series of deaths in the family. After twenty-five years, the monkey will return to being activated, forcing the now adult brothers to face the curse once and for all. The protagonists are played by Theo James, also known on the set of the second season of "The White Lotus" and in the Guy Ritchie TV series "The Gentlemen"; alongside him there are also Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Sarah Levy, Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood.
As he explained in a past interview, the need that drove Perkins to make the film was above all to find an alternative to the usual reflections on the theme of death: “I’m older now and I realize that these things happen to everyone. Everyone dies. Sometimes in their sleep, sometimes in really crazy ways, as I’ve experienced. But everyone dies. And I thought that maybe the best way to deal with that crazy idea was with a smile”.
And elaborating on the choice to give the title a humorous tone, he added: “I thought I didn’t want to approach a movie about evil toy monkeys too seriously. Life is short and when you’re given the opportunity to entertain people, I think that’s probably more important than anything else, especially in this moment in time. And I also thought that if I were to make a movie about death, about the big M-word, I would want to do it with a smile. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”
Also arousing curiosity was how Elijah Wood got involved in the project. Interviewed by Screenrant about the subject, co-star Colin O'Brien revealed about his colleague that he was initially chosen for the same role; but Wood then got the part of Ted Hammerman as a replacement for another actor, and only a few days before filming began: "When they were shooting that scene they had someone else cast as the father, but I think Oz heard that Elijah Wood was going to be in Vancouver for Comic-Con, so they sent him the script because he wanted to read it and be a part of it."
And on the short time he had to prepare, he added: “Within a few days, they scanned his face, made posters, and printed out covers for all those books. And he was incredibly good at it, considering the short time he had to prepare. It was hilarious!”