The Venice Film Festival won’t kick off for another month and a half, but Netflix has already jumped on acquiring the opening night film out of the festival, Danny Boyle‘s “Ink.”
Netflix acquired the North American and Latin American rights to the film, an individual with knowledge of the deal told IndieWire, while Studiocanal produced and is handling a number of international territories. It isn’t often Netflix doesn’t buy global rights, so they must’ve seen something special in this one.
“Ink” stars Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, and Claire Foy in a ’60s period piece about editor Larry Lamb and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on how they transformed the tabloid The Sun into one of the most influential and scandalous publications in England. Studiocanal first teased some footage of “Ink” at CinemaCon in April, and it’s now set to be the opening night film at the Biennale in Venice.
James Graham, the Olivier award winning playwright, adapted his own 2017 play of the same name for the screen.
“Ink” marks the first time Boyle is taking a film to Venice, and it will play in competition on September 2, with the festival running through September 12. Boyle’s last feature was “28 Years Later” from last year, and it’s the first time he’s made a movie that isn’t an existing franchise since his Beatles crowdpleaser “Yesterday” from 2019.
The full Venice lineup will be announced next week, and we expect this won’t be the last splash Netflix makes among the fall festivals this year. Last year, the streamer picked up Laura Poitros and Mark Obenhaus’ documentary “Cover-Up” out of Venice.
Boyle produced “Ink” along with Tracey Seaward, Tessa Ross, and Michael Ellenberg for Media Res. Boyle is re-teaming with producer Ross for the first time since they worked together on his Best Picture winner “Slumdog Millionaire.” The executive producers are Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern, Joe Naftalin for Studiocanal, Tonia Davis, Zoë Edwards, James Graham, and Sudie Smyth for Studiocanal. The film is a Studiocanal, Media Res, and House Productions film.
The deal was handled by WME Independent and StudioCanal.
