Russell Brand to star in action comedy Butterfingers for the Fyzz Facility
The Fyzz Facility announced today that Russell Brand (Arthur, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) will star in the action comedy Butterfingers, which will be directed by Barnaby Southcombe (I, Anna) and is based on a script by Tom Nash (Full Nelson, Percentages). The Fyzz Facility will produce alongside Embargo Films.
Butterfingers follows the story of a lonely and down-on-his-luck hitman Keith (Brand) — also known as Butterfingers — as he competes against archrival Perry who is hot after the same target in Spain. When Perry beats Keith to the chase and kidnaps the target’s ex-love, Keith reluctantly takes their teenager son and 9-year-old daughter as secondary leverage. Hilarity ensues in a raucous race across Europe as Keith is forced to deal with the antics of children while attempting to make it to the mark first.
Mark Lane from The Fyzz Facility stated, “Tom has written a brilliantly funny script that finds a new fan with every read. We could not be more excited to be working with Russell and Barnaby to bring ‘Butterfingers’ alive.”
Brand is best known for playing rock-star Aldous Snow first in Nicholas Stoller’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall alongside Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and Mila Kunis, and then later in Get Him to the Greek, also directed by Stoller and starring Jonah Hill. He last appeared in Larry Charles’ Army of One, also starring Nicholas Cage for TWC-Dimension.
Southcombe wrote and directed his first feature film, I, Anna, starring Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, and Hayley Atwell, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. His follow-up feature was Scarborough starring Jessica Barden, Jodhi May, Jordan Bolger, and Edward Hogg. Prior to that, Southcombe worked extensively in TV, including launching MTV’s first foray into scripted drama with the dope opera Top Buzzer and directing the pilot episode for Waterloo Road, an award-winning peak time drama for BBC.
Production on Butterfingers is scheduled to begin in July 2018 in the UK. Highland Film Group will handle global sales and introduce the film to buyers at the Berlin Film Festival next week.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
