Dev Patel Didn't Want To Direct Monkey Man — But Another Filmmaker Convinced Him Otherwise [SXSW 2024]

Dev Patel's feature directorial debut "Monkey Man" hit the ground running with its world premiere at South By Southwest ... but before the movie about an underground brawler hell-bent on revenge became a reality, the actor-turned-filmmaker says it was an idea he was hesitant to bring to life himself. /Film's Ryan Scott is attending SXSW in Austin this week, where Patel spoke about how he went from an actor and co-writer on the project to the man behind the camera.

"I was just trying to find a way to tell this story," Patel explained. "I wanted it out there. Originally, I hired a friend to write it." Paul Angunawela ("Keith Lemon: The Film") and John Collee ("Hotel Mumbai") are both credited as co-writers on the final product, but initially, Patel says two of them worked on it during an intense year-long process. "I ended up co-writing it and then we, like, hid it in a coffee shop in Koreatown in L.A. for a year driving my manager and everyone crazy because I didn't take any work," Patel confessed, adding that he wanted to "get the vibe of the Korean films in [him] while writing all day."

Patel says it was ultimately filmmaker Neill Blomkamp who convinced him to direct the movie. "We did a film together, 'Chappie,' and I actually wasn't going to [direct 'Monkey Man'], originally," Patel explained at SXSW, referencing the 2015 sci-fi film in which he played a programmer opposite Sharlto Copley's titular robot. Blomkamp, who found box office success with his own debut film "District 9" in 2009, pointed out that no one knew the story of "Monkey Man" better than Patel himself. "Me and Neill started talking," Patel recalled, "and Neill's like, 'You know, man, you should do this. You know every corner of it.'"

Initially, Patel says he was hesitant, replying, "'No, I can't do it,'" but after reassurances from Blomkamp, he decided to step up to the plate. "I got reluctantly pushed into the driver's seat and it unfolded from there," he summarized. While it makes sense that Patel was nervous to transition to the role of director — especially for a film featuring so much complex stunt work — it's becoming increasingly obvious that "Monkey Man" is not poised to crash and burn like so many actor-turned-director debuts before it. Reviews for the film began pouring from SXSW, and critics so far appear to be impressed by the filmmaking force on display.

"There's more going on — visually, emotionally, thematically — in single moments of this ultra-violent action movie than you find in most films of the genre," /Film's Jacob Hall wrote in his hot-off-the-presses positive review. "To call it ambitious would be an understatement," he adds, noting that the movie "burns with the passion and nerve of a filmmaker who thinks he's not going to direct another film ever again." This isn't surprising given how incredible the first "Monkey Man" trailer looked, but it does mean we're all the more eager to catch Patel's action-thriller film when it hits theaters on April 5, 2024.