Director of Nicolas Cage's terrifying horror to helm 'family-friendly' Stephen King adaptation next

(Image credit: Neon)

Osgood Perkins, the director of the highly anticipated Nicolas Cage horror movie Longlegs, has another spooky movie up his sleeve in the form of a Stephen King adaptation that's nothing like his 2024 scare fest.

The Monkey, adapted from a short story by King, is the next film Perkins will direct, but, unlike Longlegs, The Monkey will have more of a family-friendly tone. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting’s Boo Crew Podcast, the director said, "It’s gonna feel more like Misery or Creepshow or Gremlins or American Werewolf. It couldn’t be LESS like Longlegs."

King’s The Monkey is a part of his 1985 collection titled Skeleton Crew, which also featured The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft, and more. The story follows two young brothers who one day find their missing father's cymbal-banging monkey toy. But the monkey is cursed and the children find that the toy terrorized their father as a child as every time it bangs its cymbals, someone dies. In the end, the brothers throw the toy into a lake.

That sounds vastly different from Longlegs, which has received an overwhelmingly positive response from critics, calling it "the best horror of 2024," and "the scariest film of the decade." In a Silence of the Lambs-esque fashion, Longlegs follows Maika Monroe as a new FBI detective investigating the murders of a prolific serial killer (Cage).

Perkin’s The Monkey, which is said to follow the story's brothers much later in life, already has a star-studded cast lined up, including Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, and more. As well as directing, Perkins also wrote the screenplay, with The Conjuring’s James Wan and M3GAN’s Michael Clear producing amongst others.

The Monkey hits theaters on February 21, 2025. Longlegs hits theaters on July 12. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or keep up with upcoming horror movies heading your way this year.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.