Elsinore Producer Carries AIDS Loss to London Fest Opener — SkimNews
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- Elsinore opened the London Film Festival to a standing ovation at the Royal Festival Hall after premiering at Telluride and Toronto.
- The film centers on Scottish "Chariots of Fire" actor Ian Charleson, who delivered a final Hamlet at London's National Theatre in late 1989 before dying of AIDS at 40.
- Producer Andrea Occhipinti first met Charleson in 1984 in Spain on "The Sun Also Rises" set and again in Rome in 1987 while Charleson was shooting Dario Argento's "Opera"; Charleson told him "my life is a mess."
- Occhipinti co-founded Lucky Red in 1987 with American partner Kermit Smith, who was HIV positive at the time and died in 2001 — "I lost a lot of friends," Occhipinti says, explaining why the story matters personally.
- Andrew Scott plays the lead, with "Pride" writer Stephen Beresford scripting and Simon Stone directing; Studiocanal (CEO Anna Marsh, EVP Ron Halpern) financed the film after acquiring 51% of Lucky Red.
- Focus Features opens the film in the U.S. on Nov. 20; the Rome Film Festival hosted screenings the week after London, with most international releases set for January and awards campaigns targeting Ampas and Golden Globes voters.
Why it matters: A 15-year production path, enabled financially by Studiocanal's 51% Lucky Red acquisition, placed an AIDS-era British indie on the London Film Festival's opening night — a platform typically reserved for larger bets — as Focus Features readies a Nov. 20 U.S. launch and international releases start in January.
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