Having completed one of the regular rites of passage for people looking to direct a film – making a short movie first – Dev Patel is stepping up to call the shots. He'll also star in the eventual set action revenge tale, called Monkey Man.
Patel wrote the script with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, and the story, steeped in mythology yet set in modern India, will follow his character on a mission of vengeance. The Kid has freshly been released from prison and must take on a world awash in corporate greed and eroding spiritual values.
Producer Basil Iwanyk (who is working on movies such as John Wick 3 and Robin Hood) is on to shepherd this one, and appears happy wit the decision: "Monkey Man is a vibrant, thrilling and above all entertaining story and we are excited to be teaming up with Dev, who has great creative instincts making him a natural director," he said in a statement carried by The Hollywood Reporter.
The cameras are due to roll in Mumbai next spring, with the 87Eleven team (who not-so-coincidentally help make the John Wick movies the punch, kick and bullet-fests they are) on to design and choreograph the action.
Acting-wise, Patel will next be seen in Armando Iannucci's The Personal History Of David Copperfield, due out next year.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.