‘Bad Monkeys’ Novel And Upcoming Margot Robbie Film Demonstrates The ‘Glamor Of Evil’


Bad Monkeys has just been confirmed by Universal Pictures, according to Deadline. More interestingly, the Wolf of Wall Street actress Margot Robbie will star in the film, which is an adaptation of Matt Ruff’s 2007 novel of the same name.

The Matt Ruff novel Bad Monkeys is a psychological thriller about Jane Charlotte, a woman who gets arrested for murder. But she doesn’t want to go to jail, so she says that she is part of a secret organization that fights evil.

Bad Monkeys will be adapted into a film by Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark, who are also set to produce the thriller along with Margot Robbie. In the novel, Jane says she’s working for the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons, which also goes by the name Bad Monkeys.

But after Jane claims she fights evil as part of her secretive organization, she is sent to the jail’s psychiatric ward. But that’s only part of the problem as now detectives have to figure out whether Jane is crazy, lying, or telling the truth.

Josey McNamara, who worked on Fast & Furious 6, Bastille Day, and the 24 TV series, will executive produce Bad Monkeys, while Jon Mone, the producer of Ted, and Nicholas Nesbitt, the producer of Patriots Day, will oversee production.

That means in Bad Monkeys, Robbie will be playing her second role of Jane in just one year. In the recently released film The Legend of Tarzan, Robbie is also playing a character named Jane. It’s a lucrative year for Robbie, who also stars as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, which hits theaters next month.

But the list of films in which Robbie has filmed or begins filming in 2016 doesn’t end with Bad Monkeys, The Legend Of Tarzan, and Suicide Squad. The actress is also starring in Terminal, an upcoming drama directed by Vaughn Stein and co-starring Simon Pegg, Matthew Lewis, and Mike Myers.

As explained by em>Bad Monkeys author Matt Ruff on his official website, the novel was intended to demonstrate “the glamor of evil.”

“Just as the novel tells you up front what the white room is, Jane tells you repeatedly what she is — but the way that she does it causes you to continually draw the wrong conclusion.”

Ruff also added that readers of Bad Monkeys and viewers of the upcoming film adaptation will have a confusing attitude towards Jane, because, despite the fact that they know Jane lies, they still trust her.

And even though Bad Monkeys readers and viewers are seeing that Jane kills, steals, and does all kinds of bad things, they still believe that she is a good person at heart.

“She tells you that she’s a bad seed, and instead of backing away you drop your guard. That’s the glamor of evil.”

When asked if the author himself likes the main character of Bad Monkeys, Ruff admitted that he likes characters that other people generally despise. The same goes for Tony Soprano and Hannibal Lecter. But the fact that he likes bad characters doesn’t change what they are.

“The key to dispelling the glamor of evil is to not confuse charisma with virtue.”

When asked to give his opinion about vigilantism, all the Bad Monkeys author said was that torturing people for information looks so much better on TV and films than it does in reality. Ruff also added that he would like to see “very smart, incorruptible people” who would be put in existing institutions and do justice in the world.

“Despite what you may have heard, the Bill of Rights really isn’t that big of a stumbling block to the pursuit of justice.”

[Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Images]

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