A24 Studio has established itself as a major player in the film industry over the past fifteen years. Since its founding in 2012, A24 has racked up over 70 Oscar nominations, winning 21 statuettes, including some iconic wins. This meteoric rise continues to grow, with the launch of some very interesting projects. Today, we learned that A24 has just acquired one of the most ambitious films on the market.
A24 has just acquired the medieval thriller The Peasant
According to information relayed by Deadline, A24 has just acquired a film coveted by many studios. On the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, where the distribution rights to a number of promising films are traded each year, the American studio has just acquired The Peasant, an action thriller soon to be directed by Dev Patel. Some sources are suggesting a total of around $30 million. The feature film, produced by Fifth Season and Thunder Road Pictures—the studio behind John Wick—takes place in 14th-century feudal India. It follows a shepherd whose village is devastated by mercenary knights, leading him on a quest for revenge. The original script, written by Will Dunn (Ms. Marvel), was set in Italy, but Dev Patel adapted it for India. The Peasant has already been described as a mixture of Braveheart and John Wick, with a touch of Arthurian legend.
Dev Patel, the actor turned action film director
Revealed at 18 in Slumdog Millionaire, the British actor of Indian origin Dev Patel has managed to stray from the beaten track to explore ambitious auteur projects. Like Lion (2016), which earned him an Oscar nomination, or more recently The Green Knight (2021), the very meta medieval film by David Lowery, also produced by A24. With The Peasant, Dev Patel once again steps behind the camera after a notable first attempt, in this case Monkey Man (2024). The film, whose story was already set in India, had been praised for its stylized action and its very hard-hitting fights. If he succeeds in this new attempt, Dev Patel could enter the very closed circle of new action film directors who count in Hollywood, like Chad Stahelski (John Wick saga) and Gareth Evans (The Raid 1 & 2, Havoc).
A24, the masterpiece machine
The purchase of The Peasant by A24 leaves little doubt about the film's potential. In just over a decade, the American studio has become the darling of moviegoers for its counter-current approach to its more formatted competitors. A24 has particularly distinguished itself for its reputation as a talent scout and for its support for genre filmmakers. It is to this studio that we owe the emergence of Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid), Alex Garland (Ex-Machina, Men, Civil War) and Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse). In addition to collaborating with great directors (Darren Aronofsky, the Safdie brothers, Céline Song), A24 has twice achieved supreme consecration. In 2017, Moonlight (directed by Barry Jenkins) won the Oscar for Best Picture. A performance that will be repeated in 2023 for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert).
In addition to The Peasant, the studio plans to release several highly anticipated films, including The Smashing Machine, a biopic starring Dwayne Johnson. A24 has also just announced the live-action adaptation of the video game Elden Ring, with Alex Garland at the helm, as well as the launch of a mysterious project that reunites Brad Pitt and director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave).
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