With his directorial debut, Monkey Man, Oscar nominated actor and former Skins star Dev Patel stunned cinemagoers with his chops as both an action f
With his directorial debut, Monkey Man, Oscar nominated actor and former Skins star Dev Patel stunned cinemagoers with his chops as both an action filmmaker and an action star, serving up an Indian mythology infused revenge thriller filled with gnarly knife kills, kinetic camerawork, and exploding fish. Now, per THR‘s reporting, Patel is readying his sophomore directorial effort The Peasant — another revenge thriller, but this time centred around a rampaging shepherd and set in Medieval India. Naturally!
According to THR‘s sources, Patel’s latest — on which he’ll serve as writer, director, and star — takes cues from Braveheart, John Wick, and Arthurian legend to tell a feudal India set tale infused with Medieval knights. Set in the 14th century, The Peasant — which, it bears noting, existed in a previous form as a Blacklist featured Will Dunn screenplay about a Pope-connected shepherd in Italy — will see Patel star as an Indian drover squaring off with a group of mercenary knights who’ve plundered his community. As you may suspect, it turns out that our Patel-faced shepherd is handy with more than just a crook, though specifics regarding this protagonist’s particular set of skills and where they come from are understandably being kept under wraps at this stage.
For Patel, who previously played Sir Gawain in David Lowery’s A24 fantasy epic The Green Knight back in 2021, The Peasant will mark a return to familiar period territory for the multi-hyphenate Brit. And producers Fifth Season are clearly incredibly excited about what their writer-director-star is cooking, as THR‘s piece mentions that there are already hopes from the studio that The Peasant could go on to launch a fully-fledged franchise if it resonates with audiences. Based on who’s making it, just how robust Monkey Man was, and the elevator pitch alone, we certainly wouldn’t bet against it. Now here’s just hoping that Dev Patel’s second spin in the director’s chair winds up being a shepherd’s delight and not a crook of sh— well, you know where that pun was going. We’re quietly confident it’ll be the former.
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