Articles
Monk Star Tony Shalhoub Reveals What Inspired New Peacock Movie
Only one thing could bring obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk out of retirement for one last case: COVID-19. Towards the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Monk star Tony Shalhoub revived his role as the “defective detective” for a virtual sketch imagining Monk in quarantine on Peacock’s At-Home Variety Show. Three years later, the NBCUniversal-owned streamer announced Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, a revival movie reuniting Shalhoub with his co-stars for one last case nearly 14 years after the original series concluded its eight-season run on USA Network. The straight-to-streaming movie is set in the present day “post-COVID,” so to quote Randy Newman: It’s a jungle out there.
“It’s been 14 years, I think, since we wrapped it and I just thought they came up with a good idea for it,” Shalhoub told TheWrap about the new movie. “I think the pandemic had a lot to do with it because everyone was wonder[ing] like, ‘What would Monk be doing during and post-pandemic?’ So that’s kind of where we find the character when we open the movie.”
Plot details are a mystery, but the movie sees germophobic former SFPD detective turned obsessive-compulsive consultant Monk return to solve one last, very personal case involving his beloved step-daughter Molly (played by Alona Tal in the original series), a journalist preparing for her wedding.
Shalhoub reunites with original series stars Ted Levine (as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer), Traylor Howard (as Monk’s assistant, Natalie Teeger), Jason Gray-Stanford (as Lt. Randy Disher), Melora Hardin (as Monk’s late wife, Trudy Monk), and Hector Elizondo (as therapist Neven Bell).
Mr. Monk’s Last Case hails from series creator Andy Breckman, who serves as executive producer alongside Shalhoub, David Hoberman, and EP/director Randy Zisk. Universal Studio Group’s UCP, which produced straight-to-streaming movies Psych 2: Lassie Come Home and Psych 3: This Is Gus reviving USA’s Psych, is the studio.
“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,” Michael Sluchan, EVP of Movies, Kids, Daytime at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said when Peacock announced the movie in March. “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.”
Said Beatrice Springborn, president of UCP, “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. We can’t wait for Peacock viewers to experience this fresh, fun and imaginative film.”
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie will shoot this summer and will have a streaming premiere that is TBA on Peacock. All episodes of Monk are available to stream now on Peacock.
