A Monk follow-up movie will be coming to Peacock. The NBCUniversal streamer has ordered Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, starring Tony Shalhoub in a reprisal of his titular role from the USA series, along with original series cast members Ted Levine (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), Traylor Howard (Boston Common), Jason Gray-Stanford (Percy Jackson and The Olympians), Melora Hardin (The Office) and Hector Elizondo (Pretty Woman).
The project hails from the original series creative team including creator, executive producer and writer Andy Breckman, executive producer David Hoberman, and executive producer/director Randy Zisk. The studio behind the movie is UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
In the follow-up movie, Monk, a brilliant San Francisco-based detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder, returns to solve one last, very personal case involving his beloved stepdaughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.
“When creator Andy Breckman came to us with a new Monk case set in present day, we immediately fell in love with this story all over again,” said Michael Sluchan, EVP, Movies, Kids, Daytime, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “The movie has the heart and humor of the original series with a contemporary relevance, and we’re overjoyed to work with the original creative team, including Andy, David Hoberman, Randy Zisk, the unparalleled Tony Shalhoub, and our partners at UCP, for what is sure to be a must-see movie event for Peacock audiences.”
Monk launched on USA in 2002 and ran for 125 episodes over eight seasons, with the series finale breaking ratings records as the most-watched cable drama at that time in 2009.
The series was a game changer for USA. It ushered in the entire Blue Sky brand that catapulted the network to the top of the cable ratings with a string of hits that included Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar, Burn Notice and Suits.
Talk about a potential movie started shortly after the Monk finale aired, and the idea came close to fruition at least once before. Doing a stand-alone movie is harder to pull off financially for cable but makes business sense for a streaming platform to complement the existing library.
The Monk follow-up film follows the same trajectory as Pysch, which followed with three films, the last two Peacock originals. Both Monk and Psych are produced by Peacock sibling UCP and have all their seasons available on the platform.
“New and returning fans of Monk will love how this creative team was able to preserve all that we admire about Adrian Monk while bringing him into the present,” UCP president Beatrice Springborn said. “We can’t wait for Peacock viewers to experience this fresh, fun and imaginative film.”