Danny Boyle's Rupert Murdoch drama 'Ink' to open 83rd Venice Film Festival on September 2

On Thursday, organisers of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival announced that Danny Boyle's "Ink" will open the event on September 2. The film, a drama about Rupert Murdoch's 1969 acquisition of British tabloid The Sun, will have its world premiere in competition at the Sala Grande on the Lido. The festival runs from September 2 to 12, with the full lineup expected to be announced next week.

The film and its story

"Ink" adapts James Graham's acclaimed stage play, which opened in London in 2017 and later transferred to Broadway, where it won multiple Tony Awards. The screenplay, also by Graham, dramatises how Murdoch and editor Larry Lamb transformed The Sun into Britain's best-selling newspaper through a mix of sport, sex and right-wing politics, including the introduction of topless models on page 3. According to the festival's synopsis, the story follows Murdoch's purchase of the paper and his decision to entrust it to Lamb, a move that reshaped the country's media landscape. The film describes itself as "the story of a group of bold misfits who changed journalism by giving people a fresh, sensational style of news."

I knew I wanted to capture what was clearly in the air about populism.

Graham began writing the play well before the Trump era and Brexit. Boyle called the paper "cheeky, irreverent, bold" and said Graham's script was one he "felt compelled and privileged to direct."

the year we first walked on the moon - and the year Rupert Murdoch & Larry Lamb launched a newspaper that was to change the world far more.

Cast and crew

Guy Pearce stars as Murdoch, Jack O'Connell plays Lamb, and Claire Foy co-stars. Boyle, an Oscar winner for "Slumdog Millionaire" and director of "Trainspotting" and this year's "28 Years Later," previously explored a business titan's life in 2015's "Steve Jobs." Festival director Alberto Barbera praised the performances of the three leads. Boyle said it was "a huge honour to be in a city of such extraordinary art and opening this great festival with my new film Ink." He noted that while he had visited the Biennale many times, this was his "baptism at the film festival." The film is produced by Boyle alongside Tessa Ross and Michael Ellenberg, and will be released in Italy by Lucky Red.

Festival details and honours

The Venice Film Festival, the world's oldest and one of Europe's three major film festivals alongside Cannes and Berlin, is widely regarded as a key launchpad for awards-season contenders. This year, George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will receive honorary Golden Lion awards for lifetime achievement.

This festival is without question my favourite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honour. It also probably means I'm old, but I'll take it.

What's next

The full competition slate, including other films vying for the Golden Lion, will be revealed next week. "Ink" will then premiere on September 2, marking Boyle's first film in competition at Venice. The festival will continue through September 12. The choice of "Ink" as the opening film places it in the early awards-season conversation, given Venice's history of launching Oscar contenders.