Summary
The highly anticipated adaptation of Stephen King’s chillinghorror,The Monkey, has already taken the spotlight as fans wait with bated breath to watchLonglegs’Osgood Perkins take on the 1980 short story later this month. As expected with many of King’s novels, violence and gore are a prominent feature, and it seems as though not all TV networks have appreciated this aspect when it comes to promoting the upcoming movie.
From the bucket of blood in Brian De Palma’s 1976Carrieadaptation, Stanley Kubrick’sThe Shiningto Mike Flanagan’sGerald’s Game, blood and violence have been the foundation of many of its scenes. King has never made a secret about hiding his appreciation for splatter, and it’s this that makes his narratives such an iconic part of King’s expansive legacy that makes fans flock to see his movies. Although King hasn’t always enjoyed every adaptation of his works over the years, he seemed to very much appreciate Perkins' adaptation,calling it “batsh*t insane” and telling his audience “You’ve never seen anything likeThe Monkey.“However, its upcoming release has caused unease among some TV broadcasters who’ve rejected the final cut of the movie’s trailer.
Stephen King’s Horror Movie Receives Ban for ‘Excessive Violence’
NEON, the US film distribution company, took to its social media recently to share the email responses they received from network executives, who they say had refused to play the trailer. A gory promotrailer for the upcomingThe Monkeymovie, which is set to be released in cinemas soon, was apparently turned down by four broadcasters, according to the emails. The unnamed networks cited that the reason for not wanting to showcase the trailer was due to “excessive violence” and that it wasn’t “suitable for our audiences, even with restrictions,” while another exclaimed that “the film/creative is too violent to air.”
The comments under the company’s Twitter post have seemingly had a reserved effect on horror fans who can’t wait to see it. One movie-goer said that they were now “seated”, while another stated, “Their loss.” However, many commenters have agreed that this was an incredible marketing campaign for the upcoming film on NEON’s behalf. “Hahaha. Love this promotional run ya’ll are on”, replied one fan, as an impressed poster stated, “Love this type of Marketing! They knocked it out of the park with Longlegs, and now it’s the same director & studios!”.
If NEON is sharing these emails to hype up how gory and “excessively” violentThe Monkeywill be to pique even more interest from fans, they sure are doing a great job of it. As seen forOz Perkins’Longlegs, NEON threw out the marketing rule book and staged an amazing marketing campaign that resulted in the movie getting $22 million on its first opening and $100 million at the box office worldwide. In turn, makingLonglegsthe most successful indie horror film in a decade. By the looks of things,The Monkeycould be well on its way to achieving the same success.
