Dev Patelis feeling the love after the world premiere of his directorial debut.
Patel’s new movieMonkey Man, which he co-wrote, directed and stars in, made its premiere atSXSWon Monday, and the 33-year-old star appeared emotional when he took the stage when the credits rolled after the film’s one hour, 53-minute runtime.
“I mean, I’ve been hibernating for a while. I don’t really feel fit for public consumption right now. I’ve been in a dark room,” Patel, who makes his first feature-length film appearance since 2021 withMonkey Man, told PEOPLE on the red carpet for the premiere Monday. “The paint’s fairly dry on this thing, but it’s huge.”
The movie’s upcoming release first made noise in January when news broke that the film was moving from a Netflix release to theatrical distribution with Universal. At that time,multipleoutletsreported thatNopefilmmaker and producerJordan Peelepushed to releaseMonkey Manin theaters after he first saw the movie and helped Universal acquire it.
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“There are so many times we almost faced absolute catastrophe with this film, and for Universal to see it, have that response, Jordan, to see it, pick it up off the floor, brush the dust off it and put it on the mantelpiece again, is a huge thing,” Patel told PEOPLE of the movie’s journey Monday. “I put my everything into it, and I hope the world responds to it.”
Patel expanded on the “absolute catastrophe"Monkey Man’s production faced during a post-screening Q&A, noting that he sustained multiple injuries while making the movie and faced significant production issues while filming during the COVID-19 pandemic, perThe Hollywood Reporter. Some scenes in the movie were even filmed on Patel’s cell phone due to difficulties with camera equipment, the outlet reported.
Monkey Manwill premiere in theaters on April 5.
source: people.com
