European premiere of director Simon Stone’s Elsinore to open the 70th BFI London Film Festival

The 70th BFI London Film Festival (7 to 18 October) is excited to announce this year’s Opening Night Gala will be the European premiere of Studiocanal’s Elsinore at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 7 October 2026 with cast expected to attend. The film will be released by STUDIOCANAL in cinemas UK wide on 29 January 2027. 

BAFTA nominated Simon Stone (The Dig) directs Elsinore based on the life of Ian Charleson, written by BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee Stephen Beresford (Pride). Elsinore is a powerful, deeply moving and inspiring true story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London. This presentation is made especially poignant for audiences with the Royal Festival Hall just a stone’s throw from The National Theatre. 

Starring BAFTA winner and multi-Golden Globe nominee Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers, Ripley, Pressure) and Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy winner and BFI Fellow Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown, The Lost Daughter), Scott is also a producer on Elsinore. 

Further casting includes Billie Piper (Wednesday, Scoop) reuniting with Simon Stone following her Laurence Olivier award-winning performance in Yerma at The Young Vic. Johnny Flynn (Ripley, Beast), Luke Thompson (Bridgerton, Transatlantic), BAFTA and Olivier winner Monica Dolan (Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, Days of the Bagnold Summer), Olivier winner Juliet Stevenson (Reawakening, Truly Madly Deeply), Joe Locke (Heartstopper Forever, Agatha All Along), BAFTA winner Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava, Sherwood), Matthew Beard (The Testament of Ann Lee, Vienna Blood), David Dawson (My Policeman, The Last Kingdom), Kadiff Kirwan (Slow Horses, This Is Going to Hurt), Dickie Beau (What It Feels Like for a Girl, Bohemian Rhapsody) and BAFTA winner Peter Mullan (I Swear, Ozark). 

Andrea Occhipinti of Lucky Red (Il Divo, Everybody Knows) produces with Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films (The Dig, Philomena), along with Pete Shilaimon and Mickey Liddell of LD Entertainment (Jackie, Anthropoid) and Stefano Massenzi and Carolyn Marks Blackwood. 

“We couldn’t be prouder to be able to present this quintessentially London film on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival,” says Stone. Ian Charleson had many of his greatest triumphs on the stages of the West End, at the Young Vic and of course the National, where he ended his short but dazzling career playing an unforgettable Hamlet. We are so lucky to have Andrew Scott, a London Hamlet himself, breathing delicate inspiring life into this beautiful story. I can’t wait to share it with the hometown audience!” 

“Anchored by Andrew Scott’s astounding central performance, few films will leave a lasting imprint on audiences this year quite like Elsinore,” says Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Artistic Director. “Stephen Beresford’s script offers a richly drawn world from which Director Simon Stone and his exceptional ensemble of some of the UK’s greatest talents vividly bring the story of renowned actor Ian Charleson to the screen. We could not be prouder to open the 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival with Elsinore, a film that centres community, resistance and the triumph of art.” 

STUDIOCANAL releases Elsinore in UK cinemas on 29 January 2027. Focus Features has acquired Elsinore for the US to release in select theatres on 20 November 2026. 

Elsinore is a STUDIOCANAL, LD Entertainment, Lucky Red and Magnolia Mae Films production. 

The 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival will take place in the following venues:  

• The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall returns as the gala venue  
• BFI Southbank is the home of the competition programme, Screen Talks and LFF for Free events  
• The UK’s biggest screen BFI IMAX will host LFF screenings  
• Four partner cinemas in London’s West End include Curzon Soho, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Prince Charles Cinema and Vue West End   
• Ten festival venues across the UK include Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, Chapter in Cardiff, Glasgow Film Theatre, HOME in Manchester, MAC in Birmingham, Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast, Showroom Cinema in Sheffield, Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, Filmhouse in Edinburgh and Watershed in Bristol  
• Press and industry screenings and the LFF Industry Forum takes place at Picturehouse Central    

In addition to UK-wide screenings at the festival venues, audiences will also be able to explore LFF programmes past and present with a special collection of films on BFI Player.  

The 70th BFI London Film Festival takes place from Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 18 October 2026. The full festival programme will be revealed on Wednesday 2 September 2026, with tickets on general sale from 17 September (BFI Members book early).