Buzz has been building fast around ELSINORE, the Simon Stone-directed drama that’s quickly become one of the most talked-about titles heading into fall awards season. Word first broke last week that the film had ignited a bidding war among distributors, with every major fall festival reportedly keeping close tabs on it. Now Variety confirms the next chapter: Focus Features has acquired ELSINORE for the U.S. and a swath of international territories, setting the stage for a fall release built around a full awards campaign. Sources tell Variety that programmers at Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York are all circling the title, though where exactly it will make its premiere is still being sorted out.

The real headline, though, might be Andrew Scott. According to Variety’s sources and several industry executives, Scott isn’t just in the Best Actor conversation, he’s being talked about as the current frontrunner, putting him on a collision course with Tom Cruise, who’s chasing his first Oscar nomination for DIGGER. Scott plays acclaimed British actor Ian Charleson, known for CHARIOTS OF FIRE, with ELSINORE zeroing in on the final years of Charleson’s life and his now-legendary 1989 stage performance in HAMLET, delivered while he was seriously ill with AIDS. It’s the kind of role that tends to draw awards attention, and if the buzz holds, this could be the performance that finally gets Scott his overdue recognition.

He’s not carrying the film alone either. ELSINORE also stars Olivia Colman, Johnny Flynn, Joe Locke, and Billy Piper, with Piper in particular drawing praise for her work. Between the ensemble and the subject matter, the film is already being floated as a likely multi-category Oscar nominee and a possible Best Picture contender, though with the festival lineup still unconfirmed, it’s early days yet. Still, all signs point to ELSINORE being one of the titles to watch as the season takes shape.