The Monkey Proves Stephen King Is Box Office Gold

It was another win for NEON and director Oz Perkins this past weekend as “The Monkey” absolutely killed it at the box office. Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, Perkins’ latest collected $14 million in its debut domestically, placing in second just behind “Captain America: Brave New World,” ($28.2 million), with Marvel’s latest collapsing in its second weekend. Meanwhile, NEON and Perkins have reason to pop champagne.

Produced for around $10 million, even before a single dollar from overseas is counted, this gory horror-comedy had been set up for success right out of the gate. “The Monkey” has been met with mixed-to-positive reviews which could impact its ability to endure beyond opening weekend. Even so, that low production cost acts as an insurance policy. This now ranks as NEON’s second-biggest opening weekend ever, trailing only Perkins’ own “Longlegs” from last year, which opened to $22.4 million en route to a $127 million global finish.

This film’s success also cements that King can, under the right circumstances, fuel a solid box office hit. But merely attaching the horror maestro’s name is by no means a guarantee of riches to come. Rather, it is purely dependent on what the filmmaker and studio do with the material. King’s stories merely provide an edge, assuming everything else is executed correctly.

“The Monkey” centers on twin brothers who find a mysterious wind-up monkey as children, only for a series of outrageous deaths to follow. Years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the now-estranged brothers to reunite and confront the cursed toy once again. The original short story was included in King’s beloved “Night Shift” collection.

In 2017, Warner Bros. stuck gold with “It,” which took in more than $700 million and ranks as the biggest horror movie ever at the box office. The follow-up, “It Chapter Two,” made far less with $473 million, but that’s still a dizzying number. In the years since, studios have largely been chasing that success by snatching up King IP left and right. At moments like this, though, it’s worth remembering that the misses seem easy to come by, while the hits remain relatively elusive.

Consider “The Dark Tower,” which bombed in 2017 ($113 million worldwide against a $60 million budget) after, admittedly, earning generally bad reviews. That said, Mike Flanagan’s acclaimed “Shining” sequel “Doctor Sleep” ($72 million worldwide) also flopped in 2019. Heck, even something as universally adored as “The Shawshank Redemption” was a disappointment in its original run. King’s undeniably good name only goes so far, even when the movie in question is widely considered to be better than average or even great.

With plenty more King adaptations on the way in the coming years, it’s worth it for studios to remember this. Budget reasonably, trust a good vision, and hope for the best. Don’t foolishly assume that Stephen King = hit. That way madness lies.

“The Monkey” is currently playing in theaters.