Dev Patel continues to reinvent himself as an action star after his directorial debut with Monkey Man. In Monkey Man, Patel showed off his new prowess with a buff bod and fighting skills to get revenge on the corrupt Indian politician who slaughtered his village. And it seems as that film was not a one-and-done for Patel’s new direction. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the star will write, direct, and lead The Peasant, an unconventional period action thriller from Fifth Season Productions and Thunder Road Pictures.
The project reunites Patel with Thunder Road Productions, which produced Monkey Man. Per THR, the thriller is set “in the 1300s, it centers on a shepherd who embarks on a rage-fueled campaign against a group of mercenary knights who ransacked his community, revealing himself to be more than he seems.” It was also “being described as having shades of Braveheart and John Wick as well as notes of King Arthur as it mashes up Medieval knights with feudal India.”
Fifth Season finances and produces The Peasant. The film was originally being developed with Will Dunn, who was a writer on the Marvel Studios film, Ms. Marvel. The project had generated considerable attention and found itself on the Black List — the annual directory of most popular unproduced screenplays — in 2023. Fifth Season’s slate includes a wide array of films, including comedies such as 80 for Brady and The Book Club to action movies such as the Michael Bay-directed Ambulance and David Ayer’s latest film, A Working Man.
Patel recently starred in Rabbit Trap. Our Chris Bumbray got to see the film at Sundance and said in his review, “For me, the film’s first hour, which leans into the pictorial beauty of DP Andreas Johannessen’s compositions and the innovative soundscape, is quite compelling. It starts to fall apart in the last half hour when it perhaps bites off a little more than it can chew, leaving many plot threads handing, but it’s also a film that would likely benefit from repeat viewings. While sometimes frustrating, Rabbit Trap is well worth seeing for the more adventurous filmgoer who wants something truly unusual.”
