“Elsinore,” a new film starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, has been acquired by Focus Features ahead of its debut, and the distributor has announced a first-look image and fall release date.
“Elsionire” is directed by Simon Stone (“The Daughter,” “The Dig”) and will hit theaters November 20 in limited release before expanding wider over Thanksgiving and into December. Last year Focus released “Hamnet” in that Thanksgiving slot after it made its TIFF premiere, so this is a prime awards-season berth.
“Elsinore” is the deeply emotional and inspirational true story of Ian Charleson, a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. Facing his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit, and grace, Charleson delivers a courageous performance that becomes a source of healing and inspiration for those around him.
The TIFF bow is billed as a “Canadian premiere,” making Telluride a likely world-premiere bet as “Elsinore” wasn’t announced as part of Venice.
Charleson was known as the star of “Chariots of Fire” and one of the stars of “Gandhi,” as well as a thespian of the stage as Hamlet alongside actors like Ian McKellen. In 1986, Charleson, who was gay, was diagnosed with HIV and would die of AIDS four years later at age 40. However, he famously asked that his diagnosis not be announced until after his death as a means of raising awareness for AIDS, and he was the first such show business actor in the UK to die from the AIDS epidemic.
“Elsinore” was written by Stephen Beresford (“Pride”) and also stars Colman, Billie Piper, and Johnny Flynn with Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Monica Dolan, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau, Juliet Stevenson, and Peter Mullan.
“Elsinore” is produced by Studiocanal, LD Entertainment, Lucky Red and Magnolia Mae Films, and will be released in North America by Focus Features, with Universal Pictures International distributing the film in Latin America. Studiocanal is releasing “Elsinore” theatrically in their markets of the UK, France, Germany, Italy (Lucky Red), Poland, Benelux, Australia, and New Zealand, and it is also handling worldwide sales.
Andrea Occhipinti of Lucky Red (“Il Divo,” “Everybody Knows”) produces with Gabrielle Tana and Carolyn Marks Blackwood of Magnolia Mae Films (“The Dig,” “Philomena”), along with Pete Shilaimon and Mickey Liddell of LD Entertainment (“Jackie,” “Anthropoid”), Stefano Massenzi and Andrew Scott.
The fall festival acquisitions are getting started early this year. Netflix acquired the Venice opener from Danny Boyle, “Ink,” earlier this month, and news of this deal was circling three weeks ago as first reported by Variety. Focus also has a few other fall awards contenders on the horizon that we’ll be eager to see, including Robert Eggers’ “Werwulf,” Paul Greengrass’ “The Uprising,” and Georgia Oakley’s new “Sense and Sensibility” adaptation. And surely Focus is aiming to push its box-office breakout “Obsession” into the awards conversation in some capacity.
Stone is represented by CAA and Stacey Testro International. Beresford is represented by Independent Talent Group. Scott is represented by United Agents, CAA, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Colman is represented by United Agents, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, and Narrative. Piper is represented by UTA and Curtis Brown Group. Flynn is represented by CAA and United Agents.