Dev Patel makes his directorial debut with the upcoming action film “Monkey Man,” which received rave reviews after premiering at SXSW. However, getting the movie made was extremely challenging, according to Patel. In a Reddit AMA, he described making “Monkey Man” as the hardest thing he’s ever done because the production faced “absolute catastrophe” daily.
Patel revealed they nearly had to shut down a few weeks before shooting because of COVID-19 recalling how he had to beg the financer of this movie. He recalled, “I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography. We were meant to shoot in India then COVID hit. I lost my initial production designer and [cinematographer] and the film was basically dead, then we pivoted and went to a tiny island in Indonesia where we could create a bubble in an empty hotel for the whole crew of nearly 500 people. It was a grueling nine months of absolute joy and utter chaos.”
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Many locations fell through last minute, forcing them to improvise. Border closures prevented bringing in supporting actors, so Patel ended up casting crew members on camera. Equipment broke constantly without the ability to fly in replacements, so they got creative, shooting scenes on phones and GoPros. When a crane broke, they rigged a “pendulum cam” from ropes to swoop over crowds.
Dev Patel also shared, “Speaking of tables, we only had three or four break away tables so once I would perform a huge bulk of stunts I would scream CUT and then immediately all of us would get on our hands and knees looking for all of the broken pieces of wood to glue the tables back together for the next shot. In a very long nutshell, every obstacle provided us with a new opportunity to innovate. BOOM!”
“Monkey Man” centers on Kid, an underground fighter who infiltrates India’s corrupt elite to get revenge on those who killed his mother and continue to perpetrate violence. Patel co-wrote the film and wanted to give the action genre “soul” and “real trauma.” Jordan Peele came aboard as producer after production wrapped. The film hits theaters April 5 via Universal Pictures.
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