How Did ‘Monkey Man’ Swing From Netflix to Universal?

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( Please Take Our Survey Thank you for reading the Vulture daily newsletter! We’re conducting a short survey about the newsletter and would love to hear your feedback. It’ll be fast, we promise! [Take the survey here](. timeline [How Did Monkey Man Swing From Netflix to Universal?]( A timeline of the Dev Patel passion project’s many delays and production troubles, and the rumors about why Netflix dropped it. A timeline of the Dev Patel passion project’s many delays and production troubles and the rumors about why Netflix dropped it. Photo: Universal Pictures [Monkey Man](, the directorial debut of actor Dev Patel, synthesizes Asian martial-arts movies and Hindu imagery for an action-revenge drama in the vein of [John Wick](. But its release this Friday from Universal Pictures wasn’t always the plan. The film was originally billed as a Netflix Original before it got bumped off the streamer’s annual release calendar — twice. Then, without warning, an electric first trailer dropped in January along with news of a wide theatrical rollout, thanks to producer Jordan Peele, the director of Get Out. It appears that at some point, Netflix backed out and sold the film to Universal. One report claims the streamer’s reluctance was rooted in anxieties over the film’s depiction of the political landscape in India, where the story is set. [read more]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • Summer House: [Flower Power]( • Elsbeth: [Reality Certainly Does Bite]( • Grey’s Anatomy: [A Little Magic in the O.R.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Is JoJo Siwa’s ‘Karma’ a Flop or a Flop? Siwa’s a good girl gone bad, and we mean bad.]( [With The Old Oak, Ken Loach Goes Out on a Hopeful Note In the director’s final film, the people of a dying English town and a group of Syrian refugees discover they have more in common than they realize.]( By Bilge Ebiri [Every Bizarrap Session, Ranked The vibe is El Quinto Escalón meets NPR Tiny Desk.]( By Cat Cardenas [Joaquin Phoenix and More Support Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars Speech in Open Letter “Their attacks on Glazer are a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign,” the letter read.]( By Zoe Guy [The 12 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend Yes, including an earthquake movie.]( By Savannah Salazar [Can You Tell Which Larry David Is Older? (We Doubt It) Larry David has not aged. Can you tell the difference between a photo of him from the present day and one from 20 years ago?]( By Jesse David Fox [The Simpsons Catches a Stray in J. Cole’s Kendrick Lamar Diss Track Why are we bringing Homer into this?]( By Zoe Guy [Spinoff Tokyo Vice Into Industry, You Cowards Trust me, it’ll work, and the vibes will be major.]( By Nicholas Quah [American Jewish Comedy Sings a Swan Song Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm is ending — and so is the culture it represented.]( By P.E. Moskowitz [Omens, Ranked Where does The First Omen stack up in this unholy franchise?]( By Josh Bell [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Vulture Games [Today’s Crossword]( 9-Across, Five Letters: Vladimir Harkonnen, for one Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty, FX [Today’s Cinematrix]( Can you name a Dave Bautista movie with a one-word title? Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty A newsletter about the perpetual Hollywood awards race, for subscribers only. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1701 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved