Dev Patel‘s feature directorial debut “Monkey Man” hits theaters today, and if he and producer Jordan Peele have their way, it won’t be the last time they work together.
In a new interview with EW, Peele said he’d love to work with Patel as an actor someday. “I’ve always wanted to work with him as an actor and direct him,” the director said of the “Monkey Man” helmer, co-writer, and star. “He’s one of the performers that I feel is a hundred percent consistent in his roles and his effort.” Patel modestly responded, laughing “Well, there’s a few not-so-good ones.” To which Peele replied, “But I’ve known we were always going to do something, and I respect so much the choices he’s made in his career. He hasn’t gone and done someone else’s action movie. He saved that for his own.”
“Monkey Man” is a long-gestating dream come true for Patel: a movie he’s wanted to make for over a decade. But after he shot the action film, about a young man out for vengeance against his mother’s murderers, in 2020, Patel feared his pet project would wilt without distribution, and a streamer would eventually give it a quiet release. Then Pavel screened an early version of the film, and Peele, enamored by what he watched, got involved as a producer to help “Monkey Man” get the release he believed it deserves.
“I came into the process when the film was already shot,” Peel explained. “He had a version of it, and he was feeling defeated for several reasons. I saw the film and immediately just wanted to jump through the Zoom and give him a hug. As a director, I know how hard it is to do what this man did and how hard it is to do it in one’s first time as well. All I wanted to do was say: ‘Look, this movie needs to be your version of this film. It needs to be the version that you set out to make. My goal would be just to help you realize that.’ And he took that and ran with it.” Universal Pictures eventually picked up the film on Peele’s rec, and after a buzzy world premiere at SXSW last month (read The Playlist’s review here), “Monkey Man” hits theaters everywhere today.
Peele and Patel plan to work together again, but how soon will that be. Maybe in Peele’s upcoming movie, a project still shrouded in secrecy? Neither man gave a definitive answer there. But since Peele’s latest isn’t expected until at least 2025, and it hasn’t started production yet, it’s a possibility. Peele gave an update about the project in January, stating, “I do feel like my next project is clear to me, and I’m psyched that I have another film that, you know, could be my favorite movie if I make it right.” But no one knows much of anything about the film, except that it was once slated for a Christmas 2024 theatrical release.
All the same, Peele would rather champion “Monkey Man” before providing any details about his next movie. So take his advice, believe his hype and go see Patel’s directorial debut in theaters this weekend.