Stephen King's "The Monkey" Getting a Film Adaptation

English actor Theo James has been tapped for the leading role in the horror movie "The Monkey", based on the short story by Stephen King.

"The Monkey" is centered around twin brothers Hal and Bill discovering their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, which follows a series of gruesome deaths starting to occur around them. 

The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. As 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.

The team behind the buzzy project includes genre supremo James Wan, creator of The Conjuring Universe and co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises.

The project was developed with Atomic Monster and Stars Collective, with C2 Motion Picture Group coming on board to fully finance. Wan is producing the pic with Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear, and C2 Motion Picture Group’s Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan. 

The supernatural story has been adapted for the screen by genre specialist Osgood Perkins, who also will direct.

Black Bear International is launching the project ahead of the Cannes market, where it will be among the hot titles.

Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger, Chris Ferguson, and Stars Collective’s Peter Luo and Nancy Xu will executive produce alongside John Friedberg or Black Bear International.

The Underworld and Divergent star next will be seen as the lead in Guy Ritchie’s "The Gentlemen" TV series for Netflix.