We live in what is an ever-more digital world, but if you’re a collector like myself, it can also be viewed as a golden age in some respects. Thanks to advancing technologies, various prop replicas and toys are arguably cooler and more accurate than ever, allowing pop culture aficionados like myself to adorn walls and shelves at home with awesomeness. Amazing new collectables are made available regularly – and if you’re a Stephen King fan/a fan of Osgood Perkins’ 2025 movie The Monkey, there is one that you should definitely check out this week (even if you already got the amazing popcorn bucket that was sold earlier this year).
That, however, is only the lead story of this week’s edition of The King Beat, as I also have thoughts to share about the new Stephen King TV series The Institute (set to premiere on MGM+ this weekend), and I’ve also put together a report card grading all of the new King releases of 2025 so far. There’s a lot to get into, so let’s dig in!
Are You A Stephen King Fan Going To San Diego Comic-Con? You Should Get Yourself A Bloody Replica Of The Monkey From Neon
Neon Rated website, and while it is not specifically my intention to zealously foment FOMO, you all should know that it’s a limited edition item. At the price of $125, only 350 of them are being made and orders are limited to two per customer.
I should note at this point that there is a catch, which is that this Monkey replica isn’t available for shipping. While pre-orders are open online now, the only way to actually pick up the figure is by attending San Diego Comic-Con (which is being held July 24-27) and going to get it on the convention floor. That obviously makes it much more difficult to acquire… but if you’re a collector like myself, that probably only makes it that much more attractive in your eyes. If you’re not going to the event yourself, perhaps you know somebody going who will be willing to pick it up for you?
If neither you nor anyone you know is going down to SDCC this year, I should note that there is a backup option that you may want to consider as well: while it’s not drenched in fake blood like the variant, Neon is also selling a standard version of The Monkey that is currently available for pre-order and will be shipping this month. With the exception of the claret splatter, it is identical to its Comic-Con counterpart: it’s made of soft vinyl, it stands at a height of 9.8 inches, weighs four pounds, and it has both a movable key and movable arms. Unlike the AMC popcorn bucket, it also comes in a collectable toy box (though I’ll note that the box itself isn’t a replica of the box from the movie, which I’ll admit is kind of a bummer).
Will the Monkey bring death and desolation to your life like it does to twin brothers Hal and Bill in the movie? I have my (optimistic) doubts, but if I start regularly hearing the distant sound of circus music and learn about a series of unfortunate and bloody accidents going on in my neighborhood, I’ll do you all the courtesy of including a blurb about it in an upcoming edition of The King Beat.
On July 13, the first two episodes of The Institute are set to debut on MGM+ – the show based on the 2019 novel of the same name and featuring a cast including Ben Barnes, Mary-Louise Parker, Robert Joy and Julian Richings. In advance of the show’s premiere, I’ve had the chance to watch all eight episodes of the season, and I can report that it’s a bit of a mixed bag. As far as the story is concerned, it’s a smart treatment of the source material that is both as faithful as it needs to be and makes changes that fit well. The problem it has, however, is a lacking energy and stakes that never feel quite strong enough to be described as compelling.
As in the book, protagonist Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) is a gifted teenager with low level telekinetic abilities, and he wakes up one morning to discover that he has been abducted from his home and taken to a top secret facility located in Maine called The Institute. He is told that he has been kidnapped so that he may play a part in saving the world – which involves being the subject of painful medical trials to enhance his psychic powers – but the longer Luke stays, the clearer he understands that he is being lied to and the more he desires escape.
Those who have read Stephen King’s novel will find that The Institute plays out the core narrative almost exactly as it unfolds on the page, but one significant change and improvement is the expanded role of Tim Jamieson (played by Ben Barnes). In the book, Tim – a former police officer looking for a fresh start in a small town – is introduced in the early chapters and then mostly forgotten about, but the show does a great job better weaving him into the main story and making him a consistent presence.
Without getting into spoilers, I also appreciate that the series makes reveals out of certain shocking information that King treats more blatantly on the page… but it can also be said that the show doesn’t quite do enough of that. As shocking and terrible as it is that the show’s eponymous facility is abducting and torturing children, the stakes don’t effectively grow/evolve over the course of the episodes (an aspect of the show’s very tiny scale), which means that it lacks the propulsive energy that make you want to tune in for the next chapter as soon as one ends.
As noted, the first two episodes of The Institute – titled “The Boy” and “Shots For Dots” – will premiere on MGM+ this coming Sunday, July 13, and new episodes will arrive weekly on Sundays.
If you’re not an MGM+ subscriber, you may want to check out the Amazon Prime Day streaming subscription deals going on this week.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming weeks for more about the show, including interviews with the creators and cast.
Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk, Edgar Wright’s The Running Man and the new HBO series IT: Welcome To Derry to look forward to between now and the end of December, but let’s do a quick recap of everything we’ve seen thus far and reflect on the quality of the work:
The Monkey (B+): Obviously I wouldn’t be so passionate about purchasing a replica from Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey if I really hated the movie, right? While I think the antagonist storyline in is too thin (an opinion reinforced by a rewatch this past weekend), the film has a unique, comically sadistic glee that I find impossible not to love – and that’s especially true because of the production’s incredible use of over-the-top gory special effects. (Read my four-star CinemaBlend review of The Monkey)
Never Flinch (B+): I’m a big fan of detective protagonist Holly Gibney, and while I would call Never Flinch the weakest novel in the post-Bill Hodges canon so far, I was entranced by the mystery and found that I was delightfully frustrated every time I had to put the book down. There is a bit too much coincidence in play as King works to keep the people in Holly’s life as a key part of the story, but the dual narratives are full of excitement right up to the dramatic and bloody climax. (Read my mini book review of Never Flinch)
The Life Of Chuck (A): Of the adaptations we’ve seen so far in 2025, Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck is the only one to have a place on my ranking of the 20 Best Stephen King movies of all time. As he previously proved with both Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, Flanagan has a wonderful and deep passion for King’s work, and that’s on full display here –the film’s general faithfulness to the source material and the translation of the author’s tremendous prose to voice over narration. It’s a beautiful and emotional movie that demands to be seen for the way it impacts your perspective on existence. (Read my Toronto International Film Festival review of The Life Of Chuck)
The Institute (B-): To sum up my feelings above: I like The Institute as an adaptation, but I can’t say I love it, and it’s the weakest of the new King releases we’ve seen so far in 2025. It feels hampered by its scale, but it stays true to the heart of the source material and does end up raising some big and fascinating questions by the end of the run.
When 2025 is over, what will Constant Readers look back on as the best King release of the year? Right now, the brilliant, life-affirming The Life Of Chuck has the edge, but I’m actually keeping my fingers crossed that changes in the months ahead, as that would mean that there is some really special stuff cooking in the world of upcoming Stephen King adaptations.
That brings me to the end of this week’s King Beat, but it’s never the case that seven days go by without at least one interesting new development in the world of Stephen King, and I’ll be back here on CinemaBlend next Thursday to highlight the biggest stories. While you wait for my next column, you can enjoy a look back at the expansive history of King movies and TV shows in my series Adapting Stephen King.