AFTER a rough few years, Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is set to release soon, with him also starring as the lead in the action film. In a recent media question and answer discussion, Dev spoke at length about the difficulties he and the crew encountered, which he claims is the most demanding project he has done.
The film initially began development back in 2018, with filming planned to take place in 2020. Several weeks before principal photography began in India, Dev says the financier wanted to shut down the film.
Right afterwards, the Covid-19 pandemic kicked off and the film lost its production designer and cinematographer, effectively killing the film.
“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,” he says, calling the next nine months gruelling.
