Andrew Scott Takes on Ian Charleson in the First Elsinore Trailer

We’ve been hearing about Elsinore since its festival premiere, and now we finally get to see what Simon Stone’s new film has in store for us. Following its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on September 4 and its Toronto International Film Festival premiere on September 12, the film picked up the International People’s Choice Award. Next up, it’s heading to the 2026 BFI London Film Festival for its European premiere on October 7, and Focus Features has now released the first Elsinore trailer, and, yeah, we might want to have some tissues nearby for this one.

The biographical drama, directed by Stone and written by Stephen Beresford, stars Andrew Scott as Scottish actor Ian Charleson. The film takes us into the final months of Charleson’s life as he prepares to play Hamlet at London’s National Theatre while living with AIDS.

Charleson, who died in 1990 at the age of 40, was openly gay, making his story particularly significant to queer history and to the generation of LGBTQ+ people who lived through the AIDS crisis. Elsinore brings that final chapter of his career to the screen, with Scott leading an impressive ensemble that includes Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Monica Dolan, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau, Kadiff Kirwan, Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan.

And now the trailer gives us our first real glimpse at Scott in the role.

The footage takes us backstage and into rehearsals as Charleson prepares for his Hamlet performance, giving us flashes of the production itself alongside the actor’s increasingly difficult circumstances. We also get our first look at the people surrounding Charleson during this pivotal period, with the trailer offering just enough to give us a sense of the relationships and performances waiting for us when the film arrives.

Scott, naturally, appears to be giving the role everything he has, and even in this first glimpse, Elsinore looks like it’s going to bring plenty of emotion to the screen. The combination of a legendary Shakespearean role, an extraordinary true story, and a cast this stacked has certainly caught our attention.

For now, though, we’ll let the trailer speak for itself. Check out the first Elsinore trailer below.

Elsinore will begin its limited theatrical release in the United States on November 20, with the film expanding to additional theaters throughout November and December. Lucky Red will release the film in Italian cinemas on December 24, while StudioCanal will bring it to cinemas across the UK on January 29, 2027.

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Featured Image: Andrew Scott stars as Ian Charleson in ELSINORE, a Focus Features release. Credit: Anthony Dickenson / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLC