Monkey Man: Dev Patel action film gets a new R rating four months after its previous R rating

A couple weeks ago, Universal unveiled a trailer for the Dev Patel-directed, Jordan Peele-produced action film Monkey Man, which is set to reach theatres on April 5th. You can check that trailer out in the embed above, and as JoBlo’s own Steve Seigh described it, it’s “a tour-de-force of hand-to-hand combat, Jackie Chan-like environmental manipulation, and visuals that pop with color, blood, and broken bones!” Today, the Motion Picture Association ratings board announced that they have given Monkey Man an R rating… and this announcement comes about four months after the previous time they gave the film an R rating.

The other time the MPA gave Monkey Man an R was on October 25th. At that time, the film was branded with an R for “strong bloody violence throughout, rape, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use”. Today, they revealed that a new cut of the film is rated R for “strong bloody violence throughout, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use”. As you can see, the only difference between the October rating and the February rating is the “rape” description, so it looks like a sexual assault scene has been cut out of the film sometime in the last four months. That could help it reach a wider audience, as a good number of movie-goers won’t watch something that has sexual assault in it.

Here’s the official synopsis: Monkey Man is an action thriller about one man’s quest for vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to victimize the poor and powerless systemically. Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash.After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him. Packed with thrilling and spectacular fight and chase scenes, Monkey Man is directed by Dev Patel from his original story and his screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).

Patel is joined in the cast by Sharlto Copley (District 9, The A-Team), Sobhita Dhulipala (Made in Heaven, The Night Manager), Pitobash (Million Dollar Arm, Go Goa Gone), Vipin Sharma (Hotel Mumbai, Like Stars on Earth), Ashwini Kalsekar (Ek Tha Hero), Adithi Kalkunte (Hotel Mumbai), Sikandar Kher (Aarya, 24) and Makarand Deshpande (RRR).

Patel and Peele produced the film alongside Jomon Thomas, Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christine Haebler, and Anjay Nagpal. Jonathan Fuhrman, Natalya Pavchinskya, Aaron L. Gilbert, Andria Spring, Alison-Jane Roney, and Steven Thibault serve as executive producers.

Are you looking forward to Monkey Man? What do you think of the film getting two different R ratings four months apart? Let us know by leaving a comment below.