AFM: ‘Homeland’ Actor Rupert Friend to Direct ‘Barton & Charlie & Checco & Bill’

British actor Rupert Friend (Homeland, The Young Victoria) will make his feature debut as a director with Barton & Charlie & Checco & Bill, which he wrote and will also star in.

Emily Blunt is in negotiations to co-star in the film, which is set to begin shooting in spring of 2015.

Friend will play Barton, a con man who meets Charlie (Blunt), a woman who could change his life; he offers to teach her the tricks of the grifter trade. They set off on a road trip, pursued by conned newspaper mogul Bill, and are joined by Checco, a 10-year-old Mexican boy.

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Bron Studios and Fortitude International will co-finance the film in association with Creative Wealth Media Finance.

Friend will also produce, together with Aaron L. Gilbert of Bron Studios and Margot Hand. Fortitude’s Nadine de Barros and Robert Ogden Barnum and Creative Wealth’s Jason Cloth are executive producers.

CAA packaged the movie and is handling domestic rights while Fortitude is doing international sales and introducing the project to buyers at AFM.

Twitter: @sroxborough