Dev Patel once again exercises his triple-threat muscles, coming aboard to write, direct, and star in The Peasant, a period action thriller from Fifth Season and Thunder Road Pictures. Patel will also produce via his Minor Realm production banner.

Thunder Road had also produced the critically acclaimed Monkey Man, Patel’s feature directorial debut, which he co-wrote and starred in.

The project is being billed as having shades of Braveheart and John Wick (coincidentally, Thunder Road produced the Keanu Reeves franchise) as well as notes of King Arthur, as “it mashes up medieval knights with feudal India”. THR broke the news.

Set in the 1300s, The Peasant centres on a shepherd who embarks on a rage-fuelled campaign against a group of mercenary knights who ransacked his community, thereby revealing himself to be more than he seems.

Fifth Season had initially developed the project with Will Dunn, one of Ms. Marvel‘s writers, even landing on the 2023 Black List (an annual directory of the most popular, but unproduced screenplays). With Dev Patel on board, the background was changed from its Italian setting and the protagonist’s Church-connected backstory to an India that is near-mystical. Patel and Dunn are working together on the new drafts.