Guy Pearce shines as Rupert Murdoch as Ink kicks off Venice Film Festival

The 83rd Venice Film Festival got off to a rousing start on Wednesday evening with a world premiere of Danny Boyle's Rupert Murdoch drama, Ink.

The film played at Venice's Sala Grande, with stars Guy Pearce, Jack O'Connell, Claire Foy and director Boyle in the audience to witness a four-minute standing ovation.

Pearce, who plays Murdoch, said at the press conference earlier in the day that he had received confirmation that Murdoch had given his approval to the casting choice.

"I had some messaging with Elizabeth, his daughter, and she said, 'Dad's very happy that you are playing him.' But he hadn't seen the film at that point," Peace shared, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter.

Set in 1969, Ink chronicles Murdoch's acquisition of the struggling British newspaper The Sun and his recruitment of editor Larry Lamb to reinvent it as a populist tabloid. O'Connell plays Lamb and Foy co-stars as reporter Jules Davies.

Deadline called the film "sensational" and said of the acting, "O'Connell and Pearce have never been better and really come to play here."

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Boyle explained that he was careful not to "monsterise" Rupert Murdoch "because he represented at the time a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society. It was important to us that the audience feels complicit."

Ink is the first of the 21 films competing for this year's Golden Lion to hit the screen. Other anticipated premieres in the next 10 days include the Robert Pattinson thriller Primetime; Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine; Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love; Florian Zeller's Bunker; and the Gaza documentary NAZA.

A seven-member jury headed by Maggie Gyllenhaal will choose the winners, which will be revealed at the festival's closing ceremony on 12 September.

Ink is scheduled for a cinema release in the US on 11 December, 2026, followed by a streaming and UK release via Netflix and StudioCanal on 8 January, 2027.