Andrew Scott’s Elsinore to open London Film Festival
Andrew Scott’s Ian Charleson drama Elsinore will open the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 7 before UK and US cinema releases.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
Andrew Scott’s Elsinore has landed the opening-night slot at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, putting the biographical drama about Scottish actor Ian Charleson at the front of the London cinema calendar.
The film will have its European premiere at the festival’s opening gala on Oct. 7. The event is due to take place at Royal Festival Hall, with Scott and cast members including Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn and Luke Thompson expected to attend, according to Variety.
What is Andrew Scott’s Elsinore about?
Elsinore follows Ian Charleson as he prepares to play Hamlet at London’s National Theatre under daunting circumstances. The film’s official synopsis describes it as the “inspiring true story” of Charleson getting ready to deliver “the performance of his life” in the Shakespeare role.
The London setting gives the premiere an extra theatrical flourish: Royal Festival Hall sits next to the National Theatre, where Charleson’s Hamlet became a defining part of his stage career.
Simon Stone, whose credits include The Dig, directs the film from a screenplay by Stephen Beresford, the writer of Pride. Scott leads the cast and is also credited as a producer.
The ensemble also includes Monica Dolan, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau and Kadiff Kirwan, with Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan.
When will Elsinore be released in cinemas?
Elsinore is scheduled to arrive in U.S. cinemas on Nov. 20 through Focus Features. In the U.K., StudioCanal is set to release the film widely on Jan. 29.
The producing team includes Scott, Andrea Occhipinti of Lucky Red, Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films, Pete Shilaimon and Mickey Liddell of LD Entertainment, and Stefano Massenzi and Carolyn Marks Blackwood.
Stone said in a statement that the team was proud to present what he called a “quintessentially London film” on the festival’s opening night. He noted Charleson’s stage work in the West End, at the Young Vic and at the National Theatre, where Stone said the actor ended his “short but dazzling career” with Hamlet.
Stone also pointed to Scott’s own connection to the role, calling him “a London Hamlet himself,” and said he was eager to share the film with a hometown audience.
Kristy Matheson, artistic director of the BFI London Film Festival, praised Scott’s central performance and said Beresford’s script created a “richly drawn world” for Stone and the cast. Matheson said the festival was proud to open its 70th edition with a film focused on “community, resistance and the triumph of art.”
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.