‘Primate’ Exclusive Featurette Spotlights Family Pet’s Transformation Into Powerful Killer
Paramount’s Primate from director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) is preparing to kick 2026 off with a shot of adrenaline. To prove it, our exclusive new featurette highlights the film’s incredibly powerful killer. Primate releases in theaters January 9, 2026. The suspenseful horror movie follows a group of friends’ tropical vacation as it turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror […]
Paramount’s Primate from director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) is preparing to kick 2026 off with a shot of adrenaline. To prove it, our exclusive new featurette highlights the film’s incredibly powerful killer.
Primate releases in theaters January 9, 2026.
The suspenseful horror movie follows a group of friends’ tropical vacation as it turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival. The cause? A beloved family pet has violently turned against them.
The new featurette below gives a closer look at Ben the chimp, who, as Roberts warns, is an “incredibly powerful teddy bear that can just rip you apart limb from limb, but that’s just the beginning.” Stars Johnny Sequoyah and Victoria Wyant also weigh in on Ben’s journey from the family’s cuddliest member to vicious killer in the new clip.
It’s also worth noting that Ben is practical, courtesy of Millennium FX, and played by movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba. The chimp’s transformation from sweet pet to terrifying monster is the film’s strongest asset, enhanced by Roberts’ suspense precision.
Roberts previously told Bloody Disgusting, “You needed to fall in love with Ben to a certain degree and then be terrified of him. So we really had to hit that sweet spot of how old he was, how scary-looking he was, and all that. An awful lot of thought process and design went into Millennium FX’s side to create that ideal chimpanzee.“
Johannes Roberts co-wrote the screenplay for Primate with Ernest Riera. Oscar®-winning Troy Kotsur (CODA) also stars, marking his first horror role.
Get ready. I wrote in my Fantastic Fest review, “Roberts’ latest is a lean, mean horror throwback, wearing its influences on its sleeves while managing to inject enough freshness into the familiar concept through slick technical precision and a constant mounting of dread and death. It’s also not without humor. Primate may take its crazed beast with utmost seriousness, but it’s not afraid to get playful with its concept either.”
