Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Morgan Matthews’ drama “A Brilliant Young Mind” starring Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins, the company announced Monday.
Written by James Graham, the film was previously titled “X + Y” and it will debut in theaters this summer.
Rafe Spall and Eddie Marsan co-star in “A Brilliant Young Mind,” which was inspired by Matthews’ 2007 documentary “Beautiful Young Minds.” The movie premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and stars Butterfield as a teenage math prodigy on the autistic spectrum.
Preferring to hide in the safety of his own private world, Nathan (Butterfield) struggles to connect with people, often pushing away those who want to be closest to him, including his mother Julie (Hawkins). Without the ability to understand love or affection, Nathan finds the comfort and security he needs in numbers and mathematics. Mentored by his unconventional and anarchic teacher, Mr. Humphreys (Spall), it becomes clear that Nathan’s talents are enough to win him a place on the British team competing at the highly revered International Mathematics Olympiad. Being part of a team and one which has a real chance of winning seems like it could change Nathan’s life forever. But when the team goes to train in Taiwan, Nathan is faced with a multitude of unexpected challenges, not least the new and unfamiliar feelings he begins to experience for one of the Chinese competitors, the beautiful Zhang Mei (Jo Yang).
“A Brilliant Young Mind” is a BBC Films and BFI presentation in association with Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, Screen Yorkshire and Lipsync Prods. of an Origin Pictures/Minnow Films production. The film was produced by Laura Hastings-Smith and David M. Thompson, and co-produced by Ed Rubin. Executive producers are Christine Langan, Joe Oppenheimer, Lizzie Francke, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Hugo Heppell, Norman Merry, Peter Hampden.
“We are excited to bring this incredibly moving and inspiring film to audiences around the country. The cast has tremendous chemistry and they each deliver remarkable performances. They will have you rooting for them from the beginning to the end of the film,” said Peter Goldwyn of Samuel Goldwyn Films.
“We are thrilled at the passion and enthusiasm that Samuel Goldwyn Films have shown for our film and hope American audiences will find it as moving, funny and engaging as audiences around the world have to date,” Origin Pictures said in a statement.
The deal was negotiated by Ian Puente, VP and General Counsel of Samuel Goldwyn Films, and by Stephen Kelliher, director of Bankside Films, on behalf of the filmmakers.