Netflix Acquires Dev Patel’s Directorial Debut ‘Monkey Man’ for $30 Million

British Indian actor Dev Patel attends “The Personal History of David Copperfield” European Premiere and Opening Night Gala during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square Oct. 2, 2019 in London, England. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for BFI)

India-West Staff Reporter

Netflix has acquired most worldwide rights for British Indian actor Dev Patel’s directorial debut, “Monkey Man.”

The streaming service has reportedly paid around $30 million for the revenge-thriller, reports Deadline.

Written by Patel, Paul Angunawela, and John Collee, “Monkey Man,” set in India, follows Patel as a hero who emerges from prison to take on a world filled with corporate greed and eroding spiritual values.

Filming has just finished on the movie, the cast of which includes Sharlto Copley (“Maleficent”) and Indian actors Sobhita Dhulipala of “Made in Heaven” fame and Sikandar Kher (“24: India”).

Dhulipala posted the news of her casting on Instagram, asking followers to wish her luck.

“Monkey Man,” to be out in 2022, is a co-production between Bron Studios and Thunder Road Pictures, in association with Creative Wealth Media.

It is produced by Patel, Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, Jomon Thomas, Samarth Sahni, Christine Haebler and Anjay Nagpal.

“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,” Deadline quoted Patel as saying. “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.”

Patel next stars in A24’s “The Green Knight,” which will be released in July 2021.