Paramount Debuts Primate Trailer as Chimp Turns Violent

Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for Primate on Thursday, previewing a horror film about a family’s pet chimpanzee that turns violent and a group of friends who must fight to survive. The film, directed by Johannes Roberts and co-written by Roberts and Ernest Riera, premiered at Fantastic Fest 2025 and is scheduled for wide release on January 9, 2026.

The trailer opens with a 911 call in which a panicked caller says, "He killed all the others," and then cuts to a tropical vacation setting in Hawaii where a group of college-age friends relax at a family home. Lucy, played by Johnny Sequoyah, has returned from college and reunites with family and Ben, the household chimp. According to the film’s official synopsis, Ben is bitten by another animal during a pool party, contracts rabies, and becomes aggressively violent, prompting Lucy and her friends to barricade themselves in the pool area and try to outwit the animal.

The footage emphasizes close, claustrophobic sequences and survival scenarios: frantic attempts to stay in the water to avoid the chimp, improvised defenses, and tense moments in dimly lit bungalows and jungle edges. The trailer also highlights specific...