BRAVEHAERT enthusiasts have been offered a first glimpse of the new spin-off flim about Robert the Bruce.

Starring and co-written by Angus Macfayden, who played Bruce in the Oscar-winning original, the film will be premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Fesitval later this month.

Robert The Bruce explores the early months of the outlawed leader's resistance against King Edward.

Set several years after Wallace’s uprising, it focuses on a long, harsh winter when Bruce and his men are pursued across the Highlands by his enemies.

Its premiere comes six months after Netflix launched Outlaw King, a Bruce epic starring Chris Pine.

Despite being released nearly 25 years after Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning epic, the new film is said to "pick up where Braveheart left off a thrilling, brutal and breath-taking fashion".

Speaking ahead of its launch, MacFayden says the new film sends a pertinent message to Scots today.

“Robert the Bruce rose from the ashes of his former self and became a hero who gave Scotland its independence,” the actor said.

“But he fought for the commonwealth of the land, held by none but its people. Not his wealth, not his land. And he never slept in a castle again.

“He became one with the land and nature. A lesson we need to learn with great urgency, today. I can’t wait for audiences around the world to see it.”