Dev Patel’s Monkey Man Hits Big at the Box Office on Opening Weekend

Dev Patel's directorial debut is the talk of the town, hitting the box office with a bang, making $12.7 million in its opening weekend.

Monkey Man - made on a budget of approximately $10 million - follows Kid, an anonymous young man leading a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother.

Patel directed, co-wrote, produced and starred in the film, which was initially set to be a Netflix production before getting dropped. Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions ultimately saved the day and brought Monkey Man to the big screen alongside Universal.

The film debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March and is now reaching audiences around the globe, making $10.1 million domestically and a further $2.6 million internationally.

The Academy Award-nominated Patel has starred in Lion, The Personal History of David Copperfield, The Green Knight and, most recently, Wes Anderson's short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

Monkey Man marks his first time in the director's chair, putting - quite literally - blood, sweat and tears into it, even breaking his hand and foot, as well as tearing his shoulder while on set, per @IndieFocus.