Monkey Man Global Box Office Punches Past New Milestone

The Big Picture

• Monkey Man grossed another $4 million domestically, facing a concerning 59% drop in the second weekend, but still has potential for international growth.
• Despite initial struggles, the film has earned $22 million globally in just 10 days, attracting positive reviews and a B+ CinemaScore.
• Director Dev Patel faced challenges during production, including being dropped by Netflix.

While it hasn’t exactly set the domestic box office on fire despite its pre-release buzz and well-earned comparisons to the John Wick series, debutante director Dev Patel’s brutal action film Monkey Man continued its staggered global roll-out this weekend. Monkey Man grossed an estimated $4 million domestically, dropping a worrying 59% in its second weekend and pushing its stateside haul to just under $18 million. But there’s still room to grow internationally, where the film debuted in just a handful of territories last weekend.

Monkey Man's overseas box office haul now stands at $5 million, which takes its cumulative global haul to $22 million in 10 days of release. While this might not sound like much for the $30 million production, Universal reportedly picked it up for around $10 million after Netflix dropped it from its release calendar. It has been said that the film’s political themes were seen as potentially problematic for the streamer’s expansion plans in India, which is gearing up for elections this year. In its own way, Monkey Man targets right-wing governments and religious intolerance. The movie still doesn’t have a release date in the country where it’s set.

Monkey Man subsequently caught the attention of star-producer Jordan Peele, who secured a theatrical release thanks to his long association with Universal and made sure that Patel’s ambitious action movie saw the light of day. Having established himself as a leading man in films of all genres — he broke out with the British teen drama Skins and followed it up with the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire — Patel has been hailed as a director to watch out for. He braved numerous difficulties during the production of Monkey Man; in addition to Netflix dropping the film, he worked under constant threat of being shut down, overcame several pandemic-related setbacks, and even injured himself.

'Monkey Man' Still Hasn't Secured a Release in India

Reviews have thankfully been kind, with Monkey Man sitting at a “fresh” 89% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff praised the action scenes as “great” but described the story as “so-so.” A section of her review read, “Every frame of this film is crafted with purpose, coming across as one big celebration of culture, mythology, resolve, and the iconic action films that inspired Patel.” The movie also earned a B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which is actually decent for an action picture. Also starring Sharlto Copley, Sikander Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Pitobash, and Makarand Deshpande, Monkey Man is playing in theaters.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and grab your tickets below.

Monkey Man

A recently released ex-felon living in India struggles to adjust to a world of corporate greed and eroding spiritual values.

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