The long years of development, the injuries on set, the change of distributor… Dev Patel returns with us to the eventful destiny of “Monkey Man”, his first production, in cinemas since April 17.
Twelve years ago, Dev Patel starred in the film About Cherry and season 1 of The Newsroom. This may have no connection, but it was also around 2012 that he began to think about what would become Monkey Man, his first production.
A revenge story coupled with an action film with political overtones, angry in form and substance, which overcame more than one obstacle before arriving in our theaters this Wednesday, April 17.
Theaters for which the feature film was, initially, not intended. Because Monkey Man was to be produced by Netflix, and put online on the platform, before it changed its mind. “I was then ready to say goodbye to my film”Dev Patel tells us when we meet him in London. “I was very sad, because I thought it was going to stay on a shelf for a long time.”
The feature film owes its salvation to Jordan Peele and his company Monkeypaw, who saw in Monkey Man an opus which fits perfectly with their editorial line, mixing genre cinema and political discourse. And allowed it to be entitled to a theatrical release.
“While filming the first action scene, I broke my hand”
We can all the more imagine Dev Patel’s relief that the new director had given of himself on the set. And even beforehand, since he broke his foot two weeks before the shoot. Before doing it again, with a broken hand while filming his first action scene.
Add to that technical problems, filming locations ultimately requisitioned by the army or a budget that did not allow for any delays, and you will understand that the production of Monkey Man had the air of an obstacle course. Which echoes the trajectory of its hero.
But all is well that ends well for Dev Patel: even if he confides to us that he will no longer be able to play the piano because of this hand injury that he did not want to have treated immediately so as not to interrupt filming, her baby is visible in theaters. And it’s the best action film of recent years.
Comments collected by Maximilien Pierrette in London on March 26, 2024 – Editing: Alexandre Ear