David Farnor | On 13, Mar 2021

Netflix has nabbed the worldwide rights to Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man.

Patel, who most recently starred in The Personal History of David Copperfield, has established himself as one of the most interesting talents working in the UK today, moving from his breakout turn in Slumdog Millionaire and Skins to The Newsroom, The Wedding Guest, Hotel Mumbai and Lion. Now, after writing and directing the short Roborovski, he’s stepping behind the camera to make his feature directorial debut.

Monkey Man, reportedly inspired in part by the Hindu myth about the deity Hanuman, is co-written by Patel, Paul Angunawela and John Collee (Hotel Mumbai). The thriller follows an unlikely hero who emerges from prison to get revenge on those who took everything from him. Patel will star in the film alongside Sharlto Copley.

Producers on the project include Bron and Thunder Road.

Patel said in a statement: “I’m so thrilled to be partnering with Netflix on this adventure. I hope this will be a fresh addition to the genre at a time in this industry where my story can become our story. Shooting a film during a pandemic has been quite challenging to say the least, but the opportunity to reimagine stories from my childhood and infuse them with my love of action cinema has been an absolute joy. Big love to Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for championing us from the very beginning and Aaron Gilbert and the team at Bron for giving an unproven filmmaker like myself a voice.”

Filming has just finished on the movie, after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production. You can expect it to arrive on Netflix in 2022.

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