Theo James To Star In Stephen King Adaptation ‘The Monkey’ From ‘The Conjuring Universe’ Creator James Wan; Black Bear International Launches Hot Project For Cannes Market
09.05.2023 - 15:53
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off starring in season two of HBO’s The White Lotus, Theo James has been set to lead new horror movie The Monkey, based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King.
The team behind the buzzy project includes genre supremo James Wan, creator of the The Conjuring Universe, and co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises.
Wan is producing with Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear (M3GAN), and C2 Motion Picture Group’s Jason Cloth (Joker) and Dave Caplan (Babylon). The supernatural story has been adapted for the screen by genre specialist Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) who will also direct.
Black Bear International is launching the project ahead of the Cannes market where it will be among hot titles.
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 for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them. Additional casting is underway.
Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious) and Fred Berger (La La Land), Chris Ferguson (Child’s Play) and Stars Collective’s Peter Luo and Nancy Xu will executive-produce, alongside John Friedberg (Greenland) for Black Bear International.
The project was developed with Atomic Monster and Stars Collective, with C2 Motion Picture Group coming on board to fully finance.
Talking about the film, Wan said: “Stephen King is the godfather of the horror genre. He had a huge influence on me as a child and throughout my career and it’s always been a