Focus Features has won a competitive bidding war for Elsinore, Simon Stone's drama about the final months of actor Ian Charleson's life. The studio set a North American release of November 20, 2026, expanding wider over Thanksgiving and through December. The film drew Oscar attention at Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival.
Andrew Scott plays Charleson, the Scottish actor best known to international audiences as Olympic sprinter Eric Liddell in the 1981 Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire. Elsinore focuses on Charleson's final months, when he took on the title role in Hamlet at London's National Theatre while privately battling AIDS. He died in January 1990 at age 40, weeks after completing the run. The performance has since been described by critics and colleagues as one of the defining Hamlets of the century.
Olivia Colman plays the doctor who treated Charleson through his illness. Billie Piper and Johnny Flynn also star. The screenplay is by Stephen Beresford, who wrote Pride (2014). Stone directs from a production by STUDIOCANAL, LD Entertainment, Lucky Red, and Magnolia Mae Films. STUDIOCANAL handles distribution across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia, and New Zealand; Universal Pictures International takes Latin America.
According to World of Reel, Scott is the current frontrunner for Best Actor heading into awards season.
