Brian and Charles, the feature directorial debut of Jim Archer, has been acquired by Focus Features for a worldwide distribution deal.
They will only be available in the United States, with Universal managing international distribution.
Brian, a lonely inventor living in rural Wales, is the focus of the film. He spends his days creating strange, unorthodox contraptions that are rarely successful. Brian is not deterred by his lack of success, and he embarks on his most ambitious undertaking to date. Charles, an artificially intelligent robot with a dictionary and a fascination with cabbages, was created in three days with the help of a washing machine and a variety of other spare parts.
Film4, which developed and co-financed the film, will maintain free television distribution rights to the picture in the United Kingdom, according to the studio. The British Film Institute (BFI) received funding from the National Lottery for the production directed and edited by Archer.
Rupert Majendie wrote and produced the film for Mr Box Productions, which stars David Earl and Chris Hayward.
Damian Jones (Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, Lady in the Van), Mary Burke (British Film Institute), Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden (Film4), and Mary Burke (British Film Institute) are the EPs.
