Dev Patel is directing again with The Peasant, and A24 has picked up the film for distribution. More on the project here.
Last month we heard that Dev Patel will be following up his 2024 directorial debut Monkey Man with another action-focused movie: The Peasant, a medieval revenge thriller that sounds rather epic. It combines Arthurian elements with 1300s India and sees Patel adventuring across a colourful and dangerous land on a quest for retribution.
The Peasant will once again see Dev Patel both direct and star. It’s a revenge movie, by the sounds of things, with Patel’s shepherd hunting down a group of knights who “ransacked his community,” according to The Hollywood Reporter’s brief plot description.
References such as Braveheart, John Wick were promptly quoted to give us an idea of the direction that Patel is taking things in.
He’s also working with a Black List script from Ms Marvel's Will Dunn, so there’s plenty to be excited about here. Now, thanks to Deadline, we know that A24 has picked up the film in a deal said to be worth around $30m, shrewdly doing so before the project hit the open market at Cannes.
Read more: Monkey Man review | Dev Patel’s directorial debut is a flawed passion project
That marks a hefty upgrade on Monkey Man's budget of $10m, and we imagine Patel, Dunn and their fellow collaborators will need it to bring to life this tantalising setting of a medieval India populated by Arthurian-style knights. Still, Patel will have learned plenty from some wonderful directors, not least David Lowery who managed to assemble an incredible take on Camelot and the world beyond it for just $15m in 2021’s The Green Knight, in which Patel starred as Sir Gawain.
A24 is also expert at how to produce and market such projects, so we’re hoping that $30m is the kind of sweet spot that allows Patel to take plenty of creative risks. We’ll keep our ears pinned back and let you know more – including a planned production date – when we hear it.
