Focus Features acquires ‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ with Lesley Manville and Isabelle Huppert

Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris out of the European Film Market this year.

In partnership with the House of Dior, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London (Academy Award nominee Lesley Manville) who falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, and decides that she must have one of her own. After she works, starves and gambles to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris which will change not only her own outlook, but the very future of the House of Dior. Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert plus Jason Isaacs, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo and Rose Williams also star.

The film is directed by Anthony Fabian (Skin, Good Hope), written by Fabian, Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson, and Olivia Hetreed, and based on the novella of the same name by Paul Gallico, which was made into a 1992 television movie called Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris starring Angela Lansbury. Producers are Xavier Marchand, Guillaume Benski, and Fabian. Focus Features will distribute the film domestically and Universal Pictures International will distribute internationally. eOne financed the project with support from the National Film Institute of Hungary. Sierra/Affinity, UTA Independent Film Group and CAA Media Finance negotiated the sale as part of the Virtual Berlin market. 

“Anthony transports the audience to the nostalgia and glamour of 1950s London and Paris, and the timeless fantasy of Dior haute couture, offering both Mrs. Harris and us a welcome escape from our day-to-day lives,” said Focus President of Production & Acquisitions Kiska Higgs. “We are overjoyed to collaborate again with the brilliant Lesley Manville and Isabelle Huppert, who fill the screen with poignance and verve.”

Fabian is represented by UTA, Ensemble Entertainment, and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. Manville is represented by Artist Rights Group. Huppert is represented by CAA and UBBA. Isaacs is represented by Silver Lining Entertainment. Wilson is represented by Agence Adequat, Reacting Talent, and Soli e Associati. Baptista is represented by UTA, Subtitle Talent, Elite Lisbon and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson. Bravo is represented by Definition Entertainment and Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman. Williams is repped by UTA, A&J Artists, and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver Thompson.

Photos: Featureflash Photo Agency and taniavolobueva via Shutterstock