Danny Boyle is taking on the world of print journalism in his latest film, Ink, which is set to open the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2, followed by its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. The Oscar-winning director is already generating major awards buzz for the biographical drama starring Jack O’Connell, Claire Foy, and Guy Pearce.
Here is everything to know about the upcoming drama.
THE PLOT
Ink centers around Rupert Murdoch‘s high-stakes transformation of The Sun newspaper in the late 1960s. The story picks up in 1969, the year Murdoch acquired the struggling paper and partnered with Lamb to turn it into a sensationalist publishing juggernaut.
“Long before Fox News, clickbait, and Truth Social; decades before Twitter, Facebook, Google and OnlyFans, these two men created a new tabloid which against all the odds became the biggest selling newspaper in the world,” Boyle said in a statement timed to the announcement of Ink‘s Venice premiere. “Cheeky, irreverent, daring: The super soaraway Sun challenged the establishment and remade our world for the modern era.”
Here’s some news that’s fit to print. On Wednesday, the Venice Film Festival announced that Danny Boyle’s newspaper drama, Ink, will serve as the Opening Night selection of the festival’s 83rd edition, held on the Lido Sept. 2-12. A U.S. release date has yet to be announced for the film, which was produced by StudioCanal, and wrapped production earlier this year.
Based on the Olivier and Tony-nominated 2017 play by James Graham, Ink depicts the early years of Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch just after he touches down in the U.K. in 1969 and sets about conquering the Sceptered Isles’s storied newspaper industry. Best Supporting Actor nominee Guy Pearce plays Murdoch, while Jack O’Connell portrays Larry Lamb, the editor of The Sun — a tabloid that the future Fox News founder created in his image. Emmy winner Claire Foy also stars as Jules Davies, Lamb’s better half.
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“I’ve been to the Biennale many times, but this is my baptism at the film festival,” Boyle remarked in a statement obtained by Gold Derby. “1969 — the year we first walked on the moon — and the year Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb launched a newspaper that was to change the world far more.”
“Long before Fox News, click bait, and Truth Social; decades before Twitter, Facebook, Google & Only Fans, these two men created a new tabloid which against all the odds became the biggest selling newspaper in the world,” the Oscar winning director of Slumdog Millionaire continued. “Cheeky, Irreverent, daring: The super soaraway Sun challenged the establishment and remade our world for the modern era. A script by James Graham I felt compelled and privileged to make.”
Boyle previously previewed Ink during a StudioCanal presentation at CinemaCon in April, screening an early sequence where Pearce’s Murdoch instructs O’Connell’s Lamb in the so-called “Five Ws” of journalism. At that point, the film was described as a work in progress with the director noting that he was still in the midst of wrapping production and moving into the editing room. “If you’re interested in how we got to the modern media age we all live in now, I would ask you to consider [The Sun],” he told the CinemaCon crowd.
THE CAST
Pearce, who earned an Oscar nomination for The Brutalist, stars as Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch. O’Connell plays The Sun editor Larry Lamb. Foy stars as deputy editor, and Lamb’s wife, Jules Davies.
WHO’S BEHIND THE SCENES
The screenplay was written by acclaimed writer James Graham, who adapted the script from his own Tony-nominated, Olivier Award-winning stage play.
Boyle produced the film alongside Tracey Seaward, Tessa Ross (reuniting with Boyle after the Best Picture-winning Slumdog Millionaire), and Michael Ellenberg for Media Res. Executive producers include Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern, and Joe Naftalin for StudioCanal, as well as Tonia Davis, Zoë Edwards, James Graham, and Sudie Smyth.
WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED?
Ink will make its world premiere as the opening film in competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2. StudioCanal is releasing the film theatrically in international territories including the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, while Netflix recently acquired distribution rights for the U.S. and Latin America.
