The first trailer for Danny Boyle’s “Ink” has now been released online, and not through Netflix, which picked up the film a month ago, but rather its European distributor, StudioCanal.
I’ve seen the film, which opens the 83rd Venice Film Festival, and will have more thoughts on it when the embargo lifts in a few hours. Just know that Boyle isn’t toning down his excesses at all here. Is it an Oscar contender? That’s debatable. We’ll see how the reviews go.
The film stars Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch and O’Connell as Larry Lamb, portraying the 1969 launch of the sensationalized The Sun and its lasting impact on journalism. Boyle calls the story “so relevant” because it raises questions about “where we are now” and “the future of the truth.”
The rest of the cast includes Claire Foy — as one of the only female journalists Lamb hires for The Sun. Blake Harrison plays Ray Mills who, due to his northern background, was known as Biffo — “Big Ignorant F*cker From Oldham.” James Graham, adapting his own 2017 stage play, wrote the script.
Boyle is coming off the strong reviews that “28 Years Later” received in the summer of 2025, and “Ink” appears to mark a return to more awards-friendly material. Over the course of his 30-year career, he has directed such films as “Shallow Grave,” “28 Days Later,” “Trainspotting,” “127 Hours,” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”
“Ink” will open in select theaters on December 11 before debuting on Netflix in the U.S. and Latin America on January 8.
“Ink” is in contention for the Golden Lion at Venice before going on to screen at Telluride and TIFF in early September. Below is the poster for the film, using the same font as The Sun, and which popped up in London and Venice a few days ago.
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