On the heels of other notable celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman signing their respective first-look deals, London-born actor Dev Patel has reportedly inked a first-look deal with the production and finance company ShivHans Pictures. Under the deal, Patel will ostensibly produce, develop and create projects with the company.
Typically, a first-look deal is an agreement between an ‘actor/director/producer/writer and their production company’ and ‘a production company, network, or studio’. The agreement usually states that the latter will pay a development fee to the former for a not-yet-written/under-development film or television project and will have the right to have the first look at the project for prospective production/distribution.
Regarding the deal, Patel said in his statement “We want to tell stories that we’re desperate to see about characters and worlds that we haven’t seen before. We’re super excited to collaborate with ShivHans Pictures to make bold and heartfelt content, drawing from our unique cultural experiences to give a voice to the outsiders and underdogs.”
ShivHans Pictures is known to produce unique and content-driven feature films, which do not usually fit in the quintessential Hollywood studio model. Some fine films which have been produced by the company include the thought-provoking comedy-drama ‘Captain Fantastic’ (starring Viggo Mortensen), the Al-Pacino starrer ‘Danny Collins’ and the 2015 film ‘Trumbo’ featuring ‘Breaking Bad’ actor Bryan Cranston.
All these films had one thing in common: they were a fine blend of style (featuring adept and illustrious actors) and substance (quality content). ShivHans’ upcoming film ‘The Ice Road’ is a rescue-thriller starring ‘Taken’ actor Liam Neeson. It is slated to release on Netflix later this year.
Similarly, Dev Patel’s repertoire of work includes some brilliant films such as Danny Boyle’s multiple Academy Awards winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, Sci-fi flick ‘Chappie’ and Ramanujan’s biopic ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’.
It would be super interesting to witness the synergy between Dev Patel’s cinematic acumen and ShivHans Pictures’ penchant for encouraging beautiful, independent cinema. Although, this is not the first time Patel and ShivHans Pictures will be teaming up for a creative project.
The Academy Award-nominated actor Dev Patel’s previous collaboration with ShivHans Pictures was for the 2018 film ‘Hotel Mumbai’, which was based on the abominable 2008 Mumbai attacks. Besides Patel starring in an important role, the film also featured Anupam Kher and Armie Hammer.
Currently, Patel is working on his directorial debut film ‘Monkey Man’, which is apparently an action-thriller on the lines of Keanu Reeves’ ‘John Wick’, albeit based in Mumbai. Netflix had reportedly bagged worldwide rights for the film for a whopping amount. The film is slated for a 2022 release.