The new Stephen King adaptationThe Monkeyis climbing a major box office chart. The movie, which was directed byLonglegs' Osgood Perkins, is adapted from the 1980 short story of the same name and follows twins Bill and Hal (played by Christian Convery as children and Theo James as adults) as they are tormented by a cursed monkey toy that causes people around them to die in creatively bloody ways.TheMonkeyreleasekicked off the weekend after Valentine’s Day and debuted at No. 2 behind the holdover hitCaptain America: Brave New World.
PerDeadline, as of Saturday morning,The Monkeyis projected to add another $6.2 million at the domestic box office by the end of its second weekend in theaters. Even without its international numbers for the weekend, which won’t be calculated until Sunday, thisbrings the movie’s cumulative global box office total to $31.1 million.
In addition to pushing it past the $30 million milestone, this total will seeThe Monkeyleaping onto the list of the highest-grossing Stephen King movies of all time worldwide, at No. 18 according toThe Numbers' chart. It has swiftly surpassed even iconic titles such as 1994’sThe Shawshank Redemption($28.8 million), 1976’sCarrie($25.9 million), and 1983’sCujo($21.1 million).
What This Means For The Monkey
It May Not Breach The Top 10
It remains to be seen how highThe Monkeycan climb up the chart of the highest-grossingStephen King moviesby the end of its run. However, its current projections show it potentially rising to $44 million at the domestic box office, whichcould mean a worldwide total of $60 million or morewhen all is said and done. While this will not see it surpass the No. 1 title, 2017’sIt($701 million), it could still rise quite a bit. Below, see a breakdown of the titles ahead of the 2025 movieon the chart:
#18
~$31.1 million
#17
$38.1 million
#16
$46.8 million
#15
$52.3 million
#14
$57.2 million
#13
$57.5 million
#12
$61.2 million
#11
$72.4 million
#10
Dreamcatcher(2003)
$75.7 million
IfThe Monkeydoes hit that $60 million total, it will surpass five other Stephen King movies (including the iconic Stanley Kubrick classicThe Shining) to become the 13th highest-grossing movie on the chart, replacingPet Semataryin that position. However,it seems somewhat unlikely that the movie will ever break into the Top 10, as it would have to surpass the worldwide total of the Morgan Freeman sci-fi horror movieDreamcatcher, which would necessitate its total ballooning by another $15 million.
Our Take On The Monkey Box Office
The Movie Is Already Performing Well In Its Own Right
While the movie has not had the same viral surge asLonglegs, which grossed more than $100 million worldwide in 2024, word of mouth and stellarThe Monkeyreviewsthat have earned it a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 79% seem to have helped prevent it from suffering a severe week 2 drop like many horror titles, only falling 56%, which is a far cry from its expected drop of 64%. Additionally,it has most likely passed its break-even point, which was probably around $27.5 million, given its reported $11 million budget.
