Focus Features Lands ‘Elsinore’ in Bidding War as Andrew Scott Drama Draws Oscar Buzz From All Four Major Fall Festivals

Last week, word started spreading that buzz for “Elsinore,” directed by Simon Stone, was through the roof, emerging as a potential fall awards-season contender. A bidding war was taking place for the film, which had caught the attention of every major fall festival.

Now comes word, via Variety, that Focus Features has acquired “Elsinore” for the U.S. and multiple international territories. A fall release has been set, with the studio planning a festival launch to kick off the film’s awards campaign. Sources tell Variety that programmers at each of the major fall festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York — are circling the title, though a premiere has yet to be determined.

According to Variety’s sources, and several executives, Scott is not just an Oscar contender but the current frontrunner for Best Actor, which means Tom Cruise (“Digger”) might have some serious competition in his quest for his first Oscar.

“Elsinore” stars Andrew Scott as acclaimed British actor Ian Charleson (“Chariots of Fire”), focusing on the final years of Charleson’s life and his celebrated 1989 stage performance in “Hamlet” while seriously ill with AIDS.

The film also stars Olivia Colman, Johnny Flynn, Joe Locke, and Billy Piper, with Piper also receiving praise for her performance. “Elsinore” is also being viewed as a likely multiple Oscar nominee and a possible Best Picture contender, although it’s still too early to speculate.

Scott is coming off acclaimed performances in “All of Us Strangers,” “Blue Moon,” “Wake Up Dead Man,” and “Pressure.” If the industry buzz reported by Ellwood proves accurate, “Elsinore” could become a defining chapter in Scott’s career.

Now that it has secured U.S. distribution, Focus will have to determine the best place to premiere the film. The obvious choice would be Venice, followed by Telluride a few days later, with possible stops at TIFF and NYFF afterward. We shall see. Either we have a major awards contender on our hands, or the buzz is inflated and this is all just a mirage. I’m willing to bet on the former.