Thursday, July 16, 2026

Stop The Presses! Venice Film Festival Opening Night: Rupert Murdoch OG Story “Ink” Directed by Danny Boyle, About How the UK Sun Became a Hit

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The opening night of the Venice Film Festival should get a lot of tabloid attention.

The movie is “Ink,” based on the stage play by James Graham. It’s set in 1969 and it’s all about how Rupert Murdoch turned The Sun into the best selling newspaper in the UK.

Oscar winner Danny Boyle is the director.

Jack O’Connell, Claire Foy, and Guy Pearce are the stars.

It’s an unusual choice for Venice because “Ink” is very British and UK centric. There’s no American component, which leaves us thinking Venice may have the same trouble as Cannes did in May.

Are US studios holding back on Venice? We’re waiting to see how the fall festival circuit plays out. We already know that Tom Cruise in “Digger” will not be part of the mix, although it could turn up as the surprise screening for the New York Film Festival.

So far, “Ink,” has no American distributor. It would be ironic if Disney Searchlight picked it up, since that used to be a Murdoch company.

to be continued…

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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