Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey is here! The release week of any new Stephen King book or adaptation is worthy of celebration as far as The King Beat is concerned, as at the very least, it means the legacy of the beloved author is growing even bigger. In the case of the latest title, however, it’s notable that the film also happens to be great – as I explain in my four-star CinemaBlend review. It’s both horrific and hilarious, but it also has a fascinating perspective on death, and I had the chance to discuss that perspective with the cast of the movie earlier this month.
Meditations on The Monkey’s excellent tagline – “Everybody Dies, And That’s Fucked Up” – lead this week’s edition of The King Beat, but this week also brought us news about the author tackling a classic fairy tale, and all of you Shawshank Redemption fans out there will also be pleased to learn that Clancy Brown recently did a nice bit of reflecting on the epic, beloved film (which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024). There’s a whole lot to discuss, so let’s dig in!
Osgood Perkins And The Monkey Cast Reflect On The New Film’s Philosophy About Death
Death is coming for us all, and there is nothing we can do about it. None of us know when our number is up or how we will go, but the end is inevitable. It’s a terrible reality that haunts us, and thusly, most try not to think about it… but that’s part of what makes Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey a special movie. It’s extreme and absurd, comically filled with all matters of insanity and gore, but it’s also designed to have audiences confront their own mortality.
It’s an aspect of the new Stephen King adaptation that I adore, and as captured in the video above, I felt compelled to talk about it when I did the virtual press day for The Monkey last week. Speaking with Perkins as well as stars Theo James, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Sarah Levy and Rohan Campbell, I asked about not only the funny, blunt approach to the subject matter in the film, but also how the story caused them to reflect on the reality of death.
In his response, Perkins noted that what the new King movie does is basically a more direct version of what any horror film does: with the degree of distance and safety that comes from fiction, it allows us to recognize that none of us are here forever. While we spend much of our lives not trying to think about the inevitability of the end, Perkins believes that it’s something we should all perhaps give a little more consideration:
In a sense, every horror movie is essentially about that, right? Like, you're gonna die, you're gonna see how – by chainsaw, or a ghost is gonna get you, or you're gonna get possessed or something. So it's kind of like, 'Take your pick; pick a card, any card.' So just wanting to highlight that and make a horror movie just about the most elemental truth felt like it was just low hanging fruit… It's something that's on our minds sometimes – maybe should be on our minds more – and as a horror movie to come and almost lampoon the idea that of course everyone's gonna die, that's the rule, felt like a good way in.
Following up the writer/director’s comments, Theo James added that it was the aspect of the film that drew him to the project. In The Monkey, James plays a pair of estranged twin brothers who find themselves forced to reunite when a supernatural toy that caused all matters of death and mayhem in their childhood resurfaces a quarter-century later. The actor notes that while we as humans make every kind of effort to avoid and slow death, there ultimately is no escape. Said James,
That, for me, reading the script was the most interesting thematic thing that underlay the insanity of the deaths is this rumination on mortality. The human race has achieved so much in our evolution, but one thing we haven't really come to terms with is death, really. I mean, we are constantly trying to escape death and aging and pretending that it's not gonna happen, but it's the one thing that we all share.
It may all sound exceptionally macabre, but there is a positive flip side: while we know that we are going to die (some of us in absolutely horrific circumstances), that makes every moment we have alive that much more precious. Death is terrible, but life is incredible.
As noted earlier, The Monkey arrives in theaters everywhere this Friday, May 21, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend, as I have plenty more material coming your way from my interviews with the writer/director and cast of the new film.
Stephen King Has Written A New Reimagining Of Hansel And Gretel, And You Can Pre-Order It Now
When people discuss the surprise darkness of some classic fairy tales, Hansel And Gretel is a perfect example. Even before you get to the part about an old witch who likes to eat kids, the impetus of the narrative is a pair of parents who don’t feel they can care for their children so they decide to abandon them in a forest. It’s a story that can easily kick start a young person’s interest in the horror genre, which is why it’s terrifically exciting that Stephen King is publishing his own version of the classic legend later this year.
It was announced this week by Harper Collins Publishers that a new version of Hansel And Gretel will be arriving in stores later this year, and it features a team-up of literary legends. Not only will the classic story be retold by King, but the tome will feature artwork from the late, great Maurice Sendak (best known for the classic Where The Wild Things Are). According to the Associated Press, Sendak produced a bunch of costume and set design sketches in the late 1990s for a production of the Engelbert Humperdinck opera adaptation of the fairy tale, and King has taken inspiration from those illustrations for the new book.
In an official statement, the author noted that he was particularly wowed by a pair of Sendak’s drawings and felt compelled as a result to take on the project. Said the legend,
Two of his pictures in particular spoke to me: One was of the wicked witch on her broom with a bag of kidnapped children riding behind her; the other was of the infamous candy house becoming a terrible face. I thought, ‘This is what the house really looks like, a devil sick with sin, and it only shows that face when the kids turn their backs. I wanted to write that!... To me, it was the essence of this story and, really, all fairy tales: a sunny exterior, a dark and terrible center, brave and resourceful children. In a way, I have been writing about kids like Hansel and Gretel for much of my life.
From The Shining to IT to The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, King has a long history telling stories about young protagonists who find themselves in perilous circumstances and must find courage and fortitude in order to survive, so there is no doubt that a match between the author and the material is perfect.
Hansel And Gretel will be the second King book published in 2025, as this fall will see the release of Never Flinch – the latest novel featuring the delightful detective Holly Gibney. A hardcover edition of the fairy tale will be available in stores on September 2, and you can now place pre-orders at outlets including Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, and Amazon
Clancy Brown Reflects On His Time Making The Shawshank Redemption
Did you know that the actor who played the sadistic Captain Byron Hadley in Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption took a hiatus from the production of the film to get married? Have you ever wondered if the uplifting final scenes of the modern classic could all just be a dream sequence? If the question to either of those questions are “no,” you should really do yourself a favor and check out the brand new interview with Clancy Brown that dropped online this week.
Considered by many to be one of the greatest movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption celebrated its milestone 30th anniversary last year, and Brown recently spoke about his experience making the movie during an interview on The Rich Eisen Show.
In addition to talking about the memorable ending and how he took a break from his performance to get betrothed to his wife, Jeanne Johnson, Brown also discusses his time revisiting the Ohio prison where the film was shot and shares a funny story about Morgan Freeman’s agent – who didn’t fully grasp what the feature was about when they learned it was an adaptation of the King novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.”
You can check out the discussion of the film in the embed below:
Regarding Clancy Brown’s comments about the final scenes of the film, I will say that I am in total agreement with the actor. While the novella features an open-ended conclusion that doesn’t say whether or not Andy and Red ever find each other again (the ending of the film was actually crafted in reshoots), I personally hate the idea that their reunion is merely a dream.
Not only is that thinking just far too cynical for my taste, but there is nothing in the movie that suggests that might be the case. I generally have no problem with bleak and depressing fan theories, but I also don’t think that this one holds any water.
That brings us to the end of this week’s edition of The King Beat, but all of you Constant Readers can enjoy my column here on CinemaBlend every Thursday. With at least four more upcoming Stephen King adaptations set for 2025 along with two new King books, you can be sure that there will be plenty to learn about and discuss.
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