Director Simon Stone has spoken about "Elsinore", his acclaimed new film starring Andrew Scott, which premiered to a rapturous reception at the 2026 Telluride Film Festival. The film dramatises the true story of British actor Ian Charleson, best known for "Chariots of Fire", who died from AIDS-related illness in 1990 shortly after fulfilling his ambition of playing Hamlet at the National Theatre. Stone described the project as an act of service to Scott's performance and a tribute to the enduring power of live theatre, drawing on his own background as an actor and stage director.

In the interview, Stone revealed the production moved at extraordinary speed, wrapping filming only around ten months before its planned November release via Focus Features, a turnaround he called "lightning" for a film of this calibre. He credited the pace to Scott's thorough preparation and the creative team's shared deep familiarity with the theatre world, including Stone's own prior stage production of "Hamlet" and his experience directing at the National Theatre. The screenplay was written by Stephen Beresford, and Stone noted the film blends humour with heartbreak, aiming to serve as both a moving elegy to Charleson and a celebration of communal theatre-going.