Danny Boyle's film Ink, adapted from James Graham's stage play, opened the 83rd Venice Biennale on Wednesday night. The film centers on Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of the British tabloid The Sun in 1969 and his appointment of Larry Lamb as editor.
Guy Pearce plays Murdoch in the film, while Jack O'Connell plays Lamb and Claire Foy plays Jules Davies, a character created for the film adaptation who represents female executives from that era at The Sun. Boyle said during a press conference that he avoided "monsterizing" Murdoch, noting that the media mogul "represented at the time a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society."
According to Guy Pearce, Murdoch's daughter Elizabeth told him that her father was pleased with the casting. Pearce said he had not yet seen the film at the time of the message. James Graham, the playwright, said Murdoch attended the original stage production twice but gave no public opinion of it, saying Murdoch "is very good at not giving anything away."
Boyle said the film was not primarily intended as a period piece but rather about contemporary media trends. He described Murdoch as "a print man" who must be "driven to despair" by the decline of the newspaper industry.
Ink will release in select U.S. theaters on December 11 before arriving on Netflix on January 8 in the U.S. and Latin America. Studiocanal is releasing the film theatrically in the U.K., France, Germany, Poland, Australia and New Zealand beginning January 8.
