"All I did was kill my kids," says a distraught man to his therapist. That's the beginning of Stephen King's early short story about a family haunted by the Boogeyman. Now THE BOOGEYMAN brings that story to the big screen, with a few changes. (It's a very short story, so there's room to expand it to movie length.)
THE BOOGEYMAN was originally set for a streaming debut, but a great response from test audiences — not to mention the recent success of BARBARIAN, which came from the same studio — means that the movie has been upgraded to a theatrical debut. Check out THE BOOGEYMAN trailer, and then learn everything else you need to know about the movie.
When Does The Boogeyman Open?
From 20th Century Studios, THE BOOGEYMAN will open exclusively in movie theatres on June 2.
Watch the Chilling First Trailer for The Boogeyman
That's a freaky trailer! The under-the-bed and "what's in the closet?" aspects are so core to fears experienced by so many of us as kids that the images are still powerful even to adults. And that hallway full of candles is striking, too. We don't even need to see a creature for this to be scary.
But then we do see hints of something just human enough to be awful and eeek!
The Story of The Boogeyman
The trailer probably made a few things clear about THE BOOGEYMAN story for anyone who knows King's original tale. But let's recap anyway. The short story comes from the perspective of a father whose children have seemingly been victimized by a monstrous presence. The structure of the story has that man relating everything that has happened to a therapist.
The movie still features that general storyline, but the primary perspective has shifted. Here, the main characters are the therapist and his children — who have suffered loss of their own — and THE BOOGEYMAN movie follows some paths the original story did not explore. That also means there are probably some changes to the ending of the story, but we don't know what the filmmakers have come up with for that.
The Cast of The Boogeyman
Chris Messina (BIRDS OF PREY, "The Newsroom") plays therapist Will, who along with his daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher, "Yellowjackets") and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, "Obi-Wan Kenobi") is mourning the passing of his wife.
David Dastmalchian (THE SUICIDE SQUAD) appears as Lester, who looks like this movie's adaptation of the short story's original main character. Marin Ireland (THE EMPTY MAN) plays Rita, who is seen briefly in the trailer, even though we don't really know her role in the story. And Madison Hu ("Bizaardvark") appears as well.
THE BOOGEYMAN opens on June 2.
All images courtesy of 20th Century Studios.