Check out the latest photos and videos of Chloe Zhao’s new film adaptation of Hamnet, based on the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell and featuring stage and screen stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley.

The movie sees Paul Mescal (A Streetcar Named Desire, Gladiator 2, All of Us Strangers) play William Shakespeare, alongside Jessie Buckley (Cabaret, Fargo, The Lost Daughter) as his wife Agnes Shakespeare.

Just in: Watch the first official, full-length trailer for Hamnet.

Video: Hamnet – Official trailer

Hamnet also stars Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie), Joe Alwyn (The Brutalist), Jacobi Jupe (Peter Pan and Wendy), Jack Shalloo (1917), and David Wilmot (Station Eleven).

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025, where it won the prestigious People’s Choice Award, often a precursor to Oscars success.

In the US, the film is due a release by Focus Features, with a limited release on 27 November 2025, going wide on 12 December 2025.

However, if you are in the UK you will have to wait until 9 January 2026 for Universal Pictures International to release the movie in cinemas.

The Australian release date for Hamnet is 15 January 2026.

Hamnet – Teaser trailer

Also see the first teaser trailer for the new movie, released in August 2025.

The novel of Hamnet proved a multi-million bestseller, and spin-offs include the stage adaptation of Hamnet by Lolita Chakrabarti for the RSC, which also played at the West End’s Garrick Theatre last year.

News of Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) directing Hamnet came last April. Liza Marshall of Hera Pictures had secured the rights to O’Farrell’s best-seller, but agreed to allow the RSC and Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions to produce the stage play before the movie got underway.

Hamnet - Official poster

First-look Photos of Hamnet

Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal
Hamnet stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal (Photos via agents)

Marshall, plus Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes on behalf of Neal Street, have produced the movie with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Pictures, plus Book of Shadows’ Nic Gonda has executive produced.

Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell have co-written the script.

Casting was confirmed back in January last year after a number of unconfirmed rumours about Hamnet casting since May 2023. Paul Mescal told Vogue last year: “That book – it’s just devastating. I can’t wait. If I told a younger version of myself that this would be [shooting] this year, I wouldn’t believe it. I’ve obviously been in a film with Jessie before [Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter] but we’ve never shared the screen or a working process together. I think she’s one of our present-day greats. And Chloé is somebody I can’t wait to get in the weeds with, and get into the heads of those characters.”

Sign-up for news and booking alerts about these shows and more:
Main photo: Hamnet - New trailer released featuring Paul Mescal & Jessie Buckley (Screenshot)

Related News

See all

Latest News

See all