It’s really not all that surprising that Neon’s upcoming horror film, The Monkey, is Fandango’s best horror ticket pre-seller of 2025. So far. Will it hold the title for the whole year, though?
Possibly. It’s among the most highly anticipated horror movies coming out this year for good reason. Namely, the huge horror masters associated with it.
First off, it’s adapted from a short story of the same name from Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew. Second, it’s produced by one of the kings of horror movies, James Wan.
Then there’s who’s in it, which includes Theo James (The Gentlemen, The White Lotus season 2, Sanditon), Osgood “Oz” Perkins (Nope), Tatiana Masley (Orphan Black), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), and Sarah Levy (SurrealEstate, Schitt’s Creek).
As he did with the well-received Longlegs, Osgood Perkins also directed and wrote The Monkey. (Well, in this case, co-wrote along with Stephen King.) Does Perkins have another hit on his hands? Maybe.
The Monkey doesn’t hit theaters until February 21, but its ratings are already high. As of now, it’s rated 6.9/10 on IMDb and has an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score. We’ll see how audiences receive it, though, and if its ranking shifts up or down or stays consistent.
The Monkey’s Competition
Advanced ticket sales clearly demonstrate moviegoers have an affinity for the horror genre. The Monkey has surpassed all other recent horror titles in advance ticket sales at the same point in their sales cycle, including Heart Eyes, Wolf Man, Companion, and Presence.
However, with the exception of Companion, which both audiences and critics liked, Presence and Wolf Man just fared so-so. (Perhaps victims of the January Jinx? Historically, horror movies released in that month aren’t very good.)
Luckily, The Monkey is releasing in February. If it’s as good as its trailer looks, it may rank not only as one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2025 but also as one of the best.
There’s a lot of competition on both fronts, though. Sequels are once again popular this year. So are remakes/reimaginings of classic movie monsters. (Frankenstein and his bride are among them. Both have remakes coming out this year.) But in addition to The Monkey, there are some original titles, too.
This year’s crop of most anticipated horror movies includes:
- Opus – Release date March 14, 2025
- Ash – Release date March 21, 2025
- Death of a Unicorn – Release date March 28, 2025
- Until Dawn – Release date April 25, 2025
- Clown in a Cornfield – Release date May 9, 2025
- Final Destination: Bloodlines – Release date May 16, 2025
- 28 Years Later – Release date June 20, 2025
- M3gan 2.0 – Release date June 27, 2025
- Vicious – August 28, 2025
- The Conjuring: Last Rites – Release date September 26, 2025
- The Bride – Release date September 26, 2025
- Saw XI – Release date September 26, 2025
- The Black Phone 2 – Release date October 17, 2025
- Predator: Badlands – Release date November 7, 2025
Films without release dates but that are expected to come out in 2025 include Netflix’s Fear Street: Prom Queen and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. (Hey, Nosferatu and Wolf Man had their turns. Frankie needed his time to shine, too. We’re just missing The Mummy. I haven’t heard of anything in the works, but I’m willing to bet a remake of it could also follow eventually.)
So, will The Monkey retain its best pre-seller status all year long, or will one of 2025’s other most anticipated horror movies usurp it? Time will tell…
About The Monkey
When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
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Which Stephen King short story, novella, or book adaptation has been your favorite so far?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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