Elijah Wood excited to work with 'atmosphere master' Oz Perkins

Elijah Wood has hailed Oz Perkins as "an extraordinary atmosphere master".

The 'Lord of the Rings' actor - who is friends with the 'Longlegs' director - has heaped praise on the filmmaker and revealed his joy that his pal is finally getting "his moment".

He told Collider: "I'm just thrilled that people are finally… Listen, Oz has been quietly ticking away and making extraordinary genre films for years, and I've long wondered when he was gonna have his moment.

"It's just thrilling that he finally is, and he deserves it.

"He's an extraordinary atmosphere master, an incredible filmmaker, and a great writer . This is an exciting time.”

Wood will appear in Perkins' upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's 1980 short story 'The Monkey', which marks the first time the two friends have worked together professionally.

He said: "Working with him, because I've known him personally a little bit prior to him asking me to come and join that — and by the way, I'm in the tiniest little moment in that movie — first of all, he's extremely generous and kind.

"He's a really sweet person and he's a great collaborator. He lets everyone kind of do their job. He's very confident on set, but he also is very relaxed.

"The environment was so warm and kind, and his crew is super lovely, so I think I was really impressed by that. He hires right and he trusts his collaborators."

Although he didn't reveal too many details about the upcoming movie, he did promise something unique.

He added: "[I'm] stoked for that because 'The Monkey' is unlike anything he's made.

"It's a really gory comedy, and he's not known for that. He wrote something really fun."

'The Monkey' is set to hit the big screen on February 21, 2025.