Culture news Netflix may have regrets: this action film rival to John Wick knocks out the US box office
While it had been rejected by Netflix in favor of Universal, this action film has just been released in the United States and destroyed everything in its path. Compared to John Wick by many Internet users, it is already convincing the American box office and rising to the top of the podium.
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When Netflix refuses a nugget
Previously seen as the El Dorado of films and series that couldn’t find a producer, Netflix is finally starting to make some decisions that the SVOD giant may well regret. In any case, this is the conclusion that one could draw by observing the history surrounding the creation of Monkey Man. First film directed by the actor Dev Patel (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in Slumdog Millionaire in 2009), this action-packed thriller was originally supposed to be produced and distributed by Netflix. However, at the start of the year, the SVOD service finally decided to abandon the rights even though they had spent no less than $30 million to acquire themwithout giving any real justification.
Following this turnaround, it is the American producer and director Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope, Us) who decided to recover the film. It must be said that he had the opportunity to see it when he picked it up, since Monkey Man had been finished for several years (in 2021, to be precise). Obviously, what bothered Netflix did not have the same effect on Peele, who took the opportunity to add it to the list of films produced by his company Monkey Paw, in association with Universal. After having kept it warm for several months (surely the opportunity to make some adjustments to the editing for example), Jordan Peele and Universal finally revealed Monkey Man to the world, starting with the United States.
An excellent start at the US box office
Even if the gap between French releases and American releases is getting shorter and shorter (and it even happens that we are a little ahead), there are still some films that come out across the Atlantic several weeks before ‘they don’t arrive at our house. This is the case, for example, of two films of the moment: the new opus of Ghostbusters and this famous Monkey Man. Indeed, while it is still expected for release on April 17 in French theaters, our American friends were able to discover Dev Patel’s film last Friday. And while Netflix was afraid to release it on its platform, suffice to say that they must be biting their fingers at the moment.
From its first weekend of release, Monkey Man indeed reached the very large sum of 10 million dollars collected at the American box office. In doing so, he directly won the second place on the podiumjust behind the unbeatable Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom and its more than 30 million dollars raised last week. Monkey Man therefore makes an excellent start and rises above some big names like the famous Ghostbusters but also The Curse the origin, Kung Fu Panda 4 Or Dune 2. A huge success for Dev Patel’s first film and for its producer Jordan Peele, who definitely knew how to sniff out a good plan. We just have to wait ten days to discover this famous “John Wick of Mumbai” as it is called by many Internet users. In the meantime, you can enjoy the trailer available at the top of this article.
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