Trailer forLonglegsDirector's New HorrorThe MonkeyBanned on TV for 'Excessive Violence': 'Every Scene' Is Unsuitable

Mar. 15, 2025

Osgood Perkins' latest movie is apparently too gory for television.

The redacted emails seen throughout the post appear to feature a back-and-forth between a television studio employee and Neon publicity. In response to a question from Neon regarding the network’s “exact issues” with its proposed television spot, the studio appeared to respond, “It’s pretty much every scene in the spot. It’s excessively violent with blood splatter, graphic images, severed heads, [redacted], etc. We are happy to start the process with a more toned-down spot.”

The film’s latest trailer, which Neon released on Jan. 16, features James' character searching for the toy monkey in his aunt’s old home. As the trailer shows, the monkey appears responsible for a number of violent deaths throughout the character’s life — and it returns to torment him once more a number of years after his last encounter with the item.

The trailer features scenes in which the toy appears to cause someone’s electrocution in a pool, as well as other bloody scenes featuring maiming, gore and violence.

The Monkey in The Monkey trailer.NEON/YouTube

The Monkey Trailer

NEON/YouTube

“When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart,” reads an official synopsis for the movie. “Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.”

In addition to James, 40, Maslany, 39, and Wood, 44, the new slasher also costars Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell and Sarah Levy.

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The Monkeyis in theaters Feb. 21.

source: people.com