The Monkey Director Does Not Want To Make Another Stephen King Adaptation

The Monkey is now in theaters and directed by Osgood Perkins. The movie is a horror adaptation of the 1980 short story of the same name written by Stephen King. Perkins has recently claimed that he does not want to make another King adaptation even though The Monkey’s positive reviews have landed the film a 79% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. When talking with The Kingcoast, Perkins was quoted by saying,

“So in terms of like kind of what is ahead, and what comes next, I think the game that I’m engaged in, and I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity, is to do something really different every time. So if there was going to be another King thing…honestly I can’t imagine. It feels so complete. It feels like a move we made, we landed the plane as it were, and people really dig it, and don’t fuck with it. Don’t put your head in the tiger’s and lion’s mouth again. We tried something very chancy, beacause I think everybody knows as soon as you say the words horror and comedy together in the business, they say ‘I think not.'”

Along with The Monkey, Perkins also made success with his other directed horror picture, Longlegs, in 2024. Even though Perkins has made two horror films back to back, both films could not be more different in tone. As Longlegs is an occult psychological horror venture, The Monkey delves more into horror comedy with an over-the-top tone and mood.

Osgood Perkins is the son of Anthony Perkins who played the infamous Norman Bates in Hitchcock’s film, Psycho. Even though Osgood Perkins has directed horror movies, he does not cite his late father’s as a reason for leaning into the horror genre.