In reflection, 2024 was a pretty big year in the history of Stephen King. The author’s latest short story collection, You Like It Darker, arrived in bookstores; Gary Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot was finally released after spending years on a shelf; and fans everywhere celebrated the 50th anniversary of King’s seminal novel, Carrie. Looking ahead, though, 2025 promises to be even bigger – and all of the excitement will begin with the arrival of Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey in February.
The Monkey is one of as many as six Stephen King adaptations set to arrive in 2025, and leading off this weeks’ edition of The King Beat is a special extended preview of the film showcasing its wild horror and comedy sensibilities. But that’s not the only headline, as Edgar Wright’s upcoming adaptation of The Running Man has changed its release date (for a very good reason), and the author shared a wonderful goodbye to 2024 online with a wonderful friendly face. There’s a lot to discuss, so without further ado, let’s dig in!
Extended The Monkey Clip Is A Stellar Blend Of Death And Hilarity
Everything that we know about Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey suggests that it is going to be unlike any Stephen King movie we’ve ever seen before. Fans are used to the author’s less scary/more dramatic stories at this point in his career, but The Monkey is brand new territory on the big screen: a horror comedy. All signs point to laughs and screams coming in equal measure with the new release, and further solidifying that image is the brand new extended look above, which is both super dark and super funny.
To celebrate Christmas and the start of Hanukkah, Neon has released a full scene from The Monkey, and it delivers quite a taste of what to expect from the upcoming Stephen King adaptation. The clip begins with Aunt Ida (played by Schitt’s Creek’s Sarah Levy) waking up in the middle of the night to what sounds like distant circus music. Perturbed, she gets up and starts slowly investigating her house with a giant gun in hand… and things end up going quite badly for her.
She falls through her wooden basement steps, gets her face punctured by a collection of fishing lures, gets her head set on fire by a malfunctioning stove (the flame accelerated by rubbing alcohol she uses on her wounds) and she presumably ends up getting impaled on a real estate sign in her front yard. It’s quite a way to shuffle off this mortal coil!
For those of you who don’t quite understand all of the madness going on here, The Monkey (based on the Stephen King short story of the same name) tells the story of twin brothers, Hal and Bill, who end up getting cursed with the possession of an exceptionally dangerous toy: a smiling, drum-playing monkey. In short, whenever the evil thing is activated, people in the protagonists’ life die in ultra-horrific ways – and Aunt Ida ends up being one of its many victims.
Christian Convery and Theo James play the dual roles of Hal and Bill as children and adults, and in addition to Sarah Levy, the impressive supporting cast of the movie also includes Elijah Wood, Tatiana Maslany, Rohan Campbell, and Colin O’Brien (Osgood Perkins himself also plays a role, hinted at with a picture of the filmmaker in the new clip sporting sunglasses and a set of impressive mutton chops.
The Monkey is Perkins’ follow-up to Longlegs, which was one of my favorite movies of 2024, but this new clip and everything we’ve seen from the new feature suggests that it is going to be a wholly different kind of cinematic experience. Like I’m sure many of you are, I’m counting down the days until the film plays in theaters on February 21, and we are now down to less than two months of waiting. Be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about the release as we get closer to its arrival.
The Running Man Runs Away From Wicked: For Good, Gets A New, Much Better Release Date
If you pay even a modicum of attention to the business of the movie industry, then you are probably aware that Jon M. Chu’s Wicked is a massive hit. Premiering opposite Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II in mid-November, the musical has turned into a box office smash and one of the biggest hits of 2024, having earned nearly $600 million worldwide so far in its theatrical release.
Following this success, there is expectation that the upcoming 2025 sequel, Wicked: For Good, will be even bigger… which is why it is probably for the best that Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake of Stephen King’s The Running Man is shifting its release plans and will now be arriving in cinemas two weeks early.
While the original plan from Paramount Pictures was to have The Running Man play in theaters for the Thanksgiving 2025 holiday, the studio has understandably gotten cold feet and has performed a light pivot for the film’s distribution. Instead of coming out on November 21, the dystopian action film will now be arriving on the big screen on November 7 – and Deadline notes that this is particularly interesting because it means that the film will be able to play on IMAX screens (which wasn’t going to be possible if it were going up against Wicked 2).
Co-written by Wright and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World co-writer Michael Bacall, The Running Man is the second movie based on the King book (originally credited to his pseudonym, Richard Bachman), but unlike the film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this adaptation will be far more faithful.
Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, a destitute man living in a broken society who, desperate to afford medicine for his dying child, volunteers to star in a government-produced reality program. As a contestant on the movie’s eponymous show, he ventures out into society as a fugitive, and the longer he can stay alive, the more money he can make. Ordinary citizens are rewarded for providing tips that lead to Ben’s capture, but while the protagonist is on the run, he ends up connecting with rebels who open his eyes to a major conspiracy.
The stellar supporting cast of The Running Man includes Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Katy O’Brian, Michael Cera, William H. Macy, and David Zayas. Production began in November and is on-going.
It should be noted that the Stephen King movie currently isn’t alone on the release calendar being dated for November 7, 2025, as 20th Century Studios has also selected that date for the big screen debut of Predator: Badlands – which, unlike Wicked: For Good, will be targeting the same core demographic as The Running Man.
Will the films try to co-exist in that window, or can we expect a game of chicken to play out until one of the titles decides to shift plans? We’ll have to wait and find out (either way, you can probably expect to read more about this 2025 release schedule conflict in future editions of The King Beat).
Stephen King Says Goodbye To 2024 With A Message From Molly a.k.a. The Thing Of Evil
One major Stephen King-related development from 2024 that I didn’t highlight in my opening paragraph concerns the author’s social media usage. For years, King was one of the most popular users on Twitter, regularly using his page to share movie/TV/book recommendations and tell groan-worthy dad jokes, but he opted to delete his account in recent weeks, citing that the atmosphere on the platform had become increasingly toxic. Fortunately for Constant Readers, however, he has since found other homes for his online commentary, and this week, he used his personal Bluesky account to send a special happy holidays message to his fans.
Those who are familiar with King’s online presence are fully aware of Molly a.k.a. The Thing Of Evil, King’s adorable pet corgi, and the canine pal gets a sweet close-up in one of the author’s newest posts. You can check out a screenshot of his holiday message below, and be warned now that you may involuntarily find yourself going, “Awwwww.”
Molly’s nickname may dub her as The Thing Of Evil, but those eyes in the photo send the message of pure innocence. Hopefully, both she and her wonderful owner have a happy and healthy 2025 ahead of them – and I’ll personally hitch on to King’s message also hoping that all of you reading this feature enjoy the holidays and have nothing but luck going into the new year.
That brings us to the end of this week’s edition of The King Beat – which is my final column for 2024! For my regular readers, I hope that I’ve provided special insight into the world of Stephen King over the last 12 months, and I continue to plan to do so in the year ahead. As always, I’ll be back next Thursday with my latest roundup, and in the meantime, you can discover the full history of King on screen with my series Adapting Stephen King.
