Trailer released for Elsinore starring Andrew Scott

A trailer has been released for Elsinore, an Oscar-tipped film starring Dublin actor Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Billie Piper and others.

It is directed by BAFTA-nominated Simon Stone and written by BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee Stephen Beresford, the screenwriter for Pride. Scott is also a producer on the film.

Elsinore is a biographical drama based on the life of Scottish actor Ian Charleson who "faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London," according to a statement.

Scott, a BAFTA winner and multi-Golden Globe nominee, stars as Charleson, alongside Golden Globe and Emmy winner Colman as Charleson's physician, Margaret Johnson.

Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan also star.

The trailer opens with Charleson frustrated by the direction of his career following his success as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

Discussing his ambition to one day play Hamlet, he says: "It's the greatest part you can play. In the greatest theatre."

It then shows Charleson's health continue to decline and his increasing determination to not let it overshadow his work.

"If people see me and not the character that I play, then I've failed," he says. "I won't be a victim."

The teaser closes with Scott delivering Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech before he tells his doctor: "It's quality that I want. It's glory. It's joy."

Elsinore had its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2026 and will open the 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival on October 7.

It has already won the International People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Scott's performance has also drawn strong reviews and generated awards-season buzz ahead of the film's release.

Charleson, whom the film is based off of, performed as Hamlet at the National Theatre in November of 1989 while seriously ill from AIDS. He was best known on screen for his performances in Chariots of Fire and Gandhi, while his stage career included leading roles in Guys and Dolls, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Fool for Love.

He was diagnosed with HIV in 1986 and died in January 1990, aged 40, shortly after his run as Hamlet.

Elsinore will be released by Studiocanal in Irish cinemas on January 29, 2027.

Watch the trailer below.