Dev Patel Making His Directorial Debut With ‘Monkey Man’

Dev Patel, an Oscar-nominated actor, is making his directorial debut with “Monkey Man,” an action-packed vengeance thriller that will be released in theaters on April 5 by Universal Pictures. Jordan Peele produces the picture through Monkeypaw Productions, and the first trailer was released Friday morning.

Patel plays Kid, “an anonymous young man who finds out a meager living in an underground fight club in which night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more famous fighters for cash,” according to the announcement. The film was inspired by the narrative of Hanuman, a Hindu god.

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According to the logline, “After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite.” As his childhood pain boils up, his curiously scarred hands launch an explosive campaign of vengeance against the individuals who stole everything from him.”

The trailer features vicious action stolen straight from a “John Wick” film. Patel’s character goes off on a brutal revenge mission, shooting, stabbing, and bludgeoning his way through gunmen. He savagely stabs a man in the neck while holding a knife between his teeth.

Patel directs “Monkey Man” based on his original plot and screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. It was previously scheduled for Netflix, but is now being distributed theatrically under Monkeypaw’s feature partnership with Universal.

The cast includes Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher, and Makarand Deshpande.

Producers include Patel, Peele, Jomon Thomas, Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christine Haebler, and Anjay Nagpal. Executive producers include Jonathan Fuhrman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Natalya Pavchinskya, Andria Spring, Alison-Jane Roney, and Steven Thibault. Universal Pictures presents a Bron Studios production, a Thunder Road picture, a Monkeypaw production, and a Minor Realm/S’Ya Concept production, in collaboration with WME Independent and Creative Wealth Media.