Dev Patel, the star of Slumdog Millionaire and The Green Knight, proves he might have the chops to become action’s next leading hero in the first trailer for Monkey Man, which arrived Friday. The bloody film marks the directorial debut from Patel, who also co-wrote and produced the film.
Jordan Peele joined the project as a producer, which was a key part of the film’s new release plan. Though originally slated for a Netflix release, the Monkeypaw Production will now see theatrical distribution on April 5 via Universal. And from what we’ve seen so far from this movie, it definitely deserves the big screen.
Take a look a the first trailer below:
The revenge saga shot in Mumbai follows Kid (Patel), a gorilla-masked underground wrestler who, after his release from prison, seeks revenge on the elite men who preyed on the lives of him and the rest of the city’s working class. Monkey Man is inspired by the legend of the Hindu deity Hanuman.
It’s about time for Patel, a black belt holder in Taekwondo, to flaunt his combat skill — especially seeing as he’s long been a popular casting choice among onlookers for James Bond. The Monkey Man trailer teases brutal, in-your-face action executed largely by Patel himself, who recently starred in Wes Anderson’s Oscar-nominated short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” released last year on Netflix.
The cast of Monkey Man also includes Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma and Ashwini Kalsekar.
Sage Dunlap is a journalist based in Austin, TX. She currently contributes to Paste as a movies section intern, covering the latest in film news.