Focus Features will open their Sundance acquisition Brian and Charles on June 17.
The pic, which the Uni label acquired out of this year’s fest, reps Jim Archer’s feature directorial debut. Brian and Charles follows Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work. Undeterred by his lack of success, Brian attempts his biggest project yet. Three days, a washing machine, and various spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages.
David Earl and Chris Hayward wrote the screenplay and also star. Rupert Majendie produced for Mr Box Productions. Brian and Charles also stars Louise Brealey, James Michie and Nina Sosanya. Archer, who also edited the film, developed and co-funded the film with Film4 and the BFI. EPs are Damian Jones, Mary Burke for the BFI, and Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4. Archer previously cut his teeth shooting comedy sketches with friends before writing and directing several short films which culminated in winning gold at the Young Director Awards in Cannes for the short film version of Brian and Charles.
Upcoming for Focus Features is the Mark Rylance movie The Outfit on March 18, the Noomi Rapace genre title You Won’t Be Alone on April 1, The Northman on April 22 and Downton Abbey: A New Era on May 20.