Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first big outright smash horror hit of 2025. Oz Pekins’ The Monkey opened in theaters over the weekend and even though it couldn’t quite top Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World, it did very well for itself in its debut.
See also: THE MONKEY And 5 Other Stephen King Short Stories That Became Movies
The Monkey opened to an estimated $14.2 million domestically, putting it comfortably at number two on the charts. Captain America held onto first place with $28.2 million, though it did drop a hefty 68% in weekend two. Marvel’s latest opened to nearly $90 million last weekend over Valentine’s Day. But that film’s collapse left a lot of room for Perkins’ R-rated, ultra-bloody horror/comedy to thrive. NEON, whose credits also include Presence and Immaculate, is distributing this one.
NEON’s latest, which is based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, now ranks as the company’s second-biggest opening weekend overall. The biggest? Longlegs, which opened to a then-shocking $22.4 million chart topping debut last summer, becoming one of the biggest horror movies of 2024 overall, taking in well over $100 million globally. It just so happens that movie was also directed by Perkins. With two smash hits in a row, his stock just went up in a big, bad way in Hollywood.
The Monkey centers on twin brothers who find a mysterious wind-up monkey, with a series of outrageous deaths following that tears their family apart. Twenty-five years later, this strange monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy once more. The cast includes Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery and Rohan Campbell.
Making matters all the more sweet for NEON and Perkins is the fact that this movie carries a budget in the $10 million range. With decent reviews, it should be able to leg out for several weeks, especially since we don’t have any other major horror movies coming our way until Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard at the end of March.
Elsewhere, Sony’s Valentine’s Day slasher Heart Eyes unfortunately took a nosedive, dropping 71% in weekend three for a $2.8 million haul. After a massive rebound over V-day, it seems this holiday-themed romp is going to be out of the top ten in no time. It currently sits at $28.2 million against an $18 million budget. It’s still got a fair way to go before reaching profitability. Fingers crossed the overseas numbers do it a favor or two here in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the sci-fi/horror flick Companion fell out of the top ten as it made its debut on VOD, taking in just $615,000 in its fourth weekend. Starring Sophie Thatcher, this one has pulled in $34.2 million globally against a $10 million budget. That’s good enough, but it certainly feels like the kind of movie that could have/should have done bigger business. Alas.
Looking ahead, it’s pretty dry out there for horror until The Woman in the Yard arrives to help close out March. April brings with it green pastures, with films such as Drop and Sinners due to hit theaters, among others.
You can see the full list of the top ten movies at the box office for the weekend of February 21, 2025, below. For more, check out Fango’s full review of The Monkey right here.
- Captain America: Brave New World – $28.2 million (second weekend)
- The Monkey – $14.2 million (first weekend)
- Paddington in Peru – $6.5 million (second weekend)
- Dog Man – $5.9 million (fourth weekend)
- Ne Zha 2 – $4.3 million (second weekend)
- Heart Eyes – $2.8 million – (third weekend)
- Chhaava – $2.6 million (second weekend)
- Mufasa: The Lion King – $2.5 million (tenth weekend)
- The Unbreakable Boy – $2.5 million (first weekend)
- One of Them Days – $1.4 million (sixth weekend)
