Focus Features

Focus Features announced Wednesday that it is giving Josie Rourke’s Elizabethan biopic “Mary Queen of Scots” a December 7 release, right in the middle of awards season.

The film stars two of this year’s Best Actress Oscar nominees, Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, who will respectively play Mary Stuart and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. It follows Mary after her husband, the French monarch Francis II, dies when she is 18. Defying demands that she remarry, she returns to her native Scotland to become Queen there, only to find that it has fallen under Elizabeth’s rule. In a world dominated by men, the two cousins vie for control of England’s throne, setting off a chain reaction of rebellion and conspiracy.

Also Read: Margot Robbie, ABC Team Up for Anthology Series With Female Spin on Shakespearean Plays

Theater director Josie Rourke makes her feature film directorial debut with this film, with Beau Willimon writing a screenplay adapted from John Guy’s biography “Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.” David Tennant and Guy Pearce also star with Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Debra Hayward producing.

With two acclaimed stars in lead roles and a below-the-line crew that includes several Oscar winners such as costume designer Alexandra Byrne and “Slumdog Millionaire” editor Chris Dickens, “Mary Queen of Scots could be a potential awards contender next winter. Last December, Focus released Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread,” steering it to six Oscar nominations including Best Picture.

7 Hollywood Stars to Add Inclusion Riders to Their Projects, From Michael B. Jordan to Brie Larson (Photos)

Frances McDormand's powerful Oscar speech is changing the face of Hollywood and inspiring industry heavyweights to add inclusion riders to their upcoming productions. As his been widely explained since the 2018 Academy Awards, an inclusion rider is a stipulation in a contract stating that a project’s producers must hire a diverse cast and crew. Here are the Hollywood stars already taking McDormand's lead:
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Frances McDormand

The "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" Best Actress winner delivered a simple message at the 90th Academy Awards, saying: “Two words, ladies and gentlemen: Inclusion rider."
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Brie Larson

“I’m committed to the Inclusion Rider,” Oscar Winner and "Captain Marvel" star Brie Larson tweeted. “Who’s with me?”
TheWrap
Michael B. Jordan

“In support of the women and men who are leading this fight, I will be adopting the Inclusion Rider for all projects produced by my company Outlier Society,” "Black Panther" star Michael B Jordan went on to announce via Instagram March 7.
Marvel Studios
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will be adopting an inclusion rider in all future projects, the head of strategic outreach for their Pearl Street Films production company announced via Twitter on March 12.
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Paul Feig

"Ghostbusters" director Paul Feig also said on Twitter March 13 that his production banner, Feigco Entertainment, will make inclusion riders a studio standard for all film and TV projects.
TheWrap
Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd said after a meeting with her agency, WME her: “I would like for this agency that represents me to be 50/50 male-female including all ethnicities, races and sexual orientations. And the 50/50 needs to be included in all decision-making levels, which means they would have to add two females at the top.”
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Inspired by Frances McDormand’s acceptance speech at the Oscars, inclusion riders have become a hot topic in Hollywood

Frances McDormand's powerful Oscar speech is changing the face of Hollywood and inspiring industry heavyweights to add inclusion riders to their upcoming productions. As his been widely explained since the 2018 Academy Awards, an inclusion rider is a stipulation in a contract stating that a project’s producers must hire a diverse cast and crew. Here are the Hollywood stars already taking McDormand's lead:

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