New Stephen King Adaptation Enters Top 10 Box Office Hits For The Author, Surpassing Classics Like The Shining & Stand By Me

When it comes to authors who have had their works adapted into major feature films, Stephen King has few equals. 1976’s Carrie from director Brian De Palma marks the first of the author’s works to get the big-screen treatment, and it paved the way for dozens more in the decades that followed. Stanbley Kubrick’s The Shining was released in 1980 and now stands as one of the most iconic and beloved adaptations of King’s work, even if the author himself infamously doesn’t care for it.

Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me hit theaters in 1986, marking the first non-horror King adaptation. It would ultimately be followed by movies like The Running Man (1987), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and The Green Mile (1999). More than two decades later, new King movies continue to release at a regular cadence, including titles like Gerald’s Game (2017), Pet Sematary (2019), Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022), The Boogeyman (2023), and Salem’s Lot (2024). King’s name alone, however, isn’t enough to guarantee box office success, and not all of these adaptations have been wins commercially.

The Monkey Enters A Prestigious Stephen King Top 10 List

Osgood Perkins’ Film Achieves Another Milestone

The Monkey

passes The Shining and Stand By Me to become a top-grossing King adaptation. Directed by Osgood Perkins, who just found major success last year with horror hit Longlegs, the newest King adaptation tells the story of twin brothers Hal and Bill (Theo James, on double duty) and their troubled relationship with a toy monkey that causes a series of gruesome deaths. Reviews for The Monkey have been generally positive from critics, and the film, which was made on a budget of around $10 million, got off to a strong start at the box office.

About three weeks after hitting theaters, The Monkey has now grossed an impressive $53 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. This total comprises $31.9 million domestic and $21.1 million internationally. The Monkey has now surpassed The Shining ($44M), Secret Window ($48M), The Dark Tower ($50.7M), and Stand By Me ($52.2M) to become the eighth highest-grossing King adaptation of all time. It’s worth noting, however, that these totals do not account for inflation. Check out the chart below of the full top 10 list and their box office totals:

What The Monkey’s Box Office Means For The Film

Osgood Perkins & Neon’s Partnership Explained

With a budget around $10 million, The Monkey was probably looking at a break-even point of $20 million or perhaps $25 million. Clearly, it has far surpassed both of those figures, becoming a major success for Neon. This marks another successful collaboration between Perkins and Neon after Longlegs, which went on to gross a staggering $126 million on a budget of less than $10 million.

Perkins and Neon already have their next collaboration lined up with Keeper, a horror film that stars The Monkey cast member Tatiana Maslany. Keeper was actually teased in the King adaptation’s post-credits scene, and it’s a strong sign that Perkins and Neon could continue to work together for years to come. It’s unclear whether another adaptation of King’s work is in Perkins’ future, but The Monkey‘s success certainly suggests he may eventually return to tell another of the author’s tales at some point down the road.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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The Monkey

6/10

Release Date

February 19, 2025

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Osgood Perkins

Writers

Osgood Perkins

Producers

John Rickard, Natalia Safran, Ali Jazayeri, Chris Ferguson, Fred Berger, Giuliana Bertuzzi, James Wan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, John Friedberg, Jason Cloth, David Gendron, Michael Clear, Jesse Savath, Peter Luo, Dave Caplan