Venice Film Festival 2026: Danny Boyle Opens 83rd Edition with 'Ink', Rupert Murdoch Film

Herz — World Desk · 23 July 2026 at 16:04 · 30s summary · 5 min read

What We Know

Danny Boyle's film 'Ink' will open the 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2026, on the Lido, according to The Guardian. Australian actor Guy Pearce plays press magnate Rupert Murdoch.

'Ink' recounts the acquisition of British tabloid The Sun by Murdoch in 1969. The screenplay is by James Graham, a dramatist who won the Laurence Olivier Awards — British theatre awards established in 1976 to recognize theatre professionals in the United Kingdom — known for Dear England and Brexit: The Uncivil War.

The 2026 selection was presented this week by Alberto Barbera, the festival's long-time artistic director.

In Competition

Martin McDonagh presents 'Wild Horse Nine' in competition. John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell play two unconventional CIA agents in Chile on the eve of Pinochet's coup d'état. Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, and Parker Posey round out the cast.

Nanni Moretti competes with 'Succederà Questa Notte' (international title: 'It Will Happen Tonight'). This is his first selection in official competition at Venice since 1989.

Werner Herzog returns to fiction with 'Bucking Fastard', his first feature film in seven years. Sisters Kate and Rooney Mara take leading roles in a story centered on a mission to tunnel through a mountain range 'in search of an imaginary land'.

Robert Pattinson competes in 'Primetime', a psychological thriller by Lance Oppenheim produced by A24. The film is inspired by To Catch a Predator, an American reality television show that aired from November 2004 to December 2007 on Dateline NBC, presenting undercover investigations to identify people contacting minors online for sexual purposes.

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, a couple in real life, share the screen in 'Bunker' by French playwright and director Florian Zeller. They play an editor and an architect living in London who are invited by a billionaire to design a building resistant to nuclear bombs.

Russian-born director Ilya Khrzhanovsky presents the final installment of his Dar project, an expansive work compared to a Stalinist Truman Show and inspired by a Soviet research institute that contributed to the development of the first Soviet atomic bomb.

Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa presents 'Imperium', a documentary about a film commissioned by the Italian Communist Party to glorify the triumph of the Soviet Union, which ultimately revealed its own contradictions.

Out of Competition

Alex Gibney presents 'Musk', a four-hour documentary dedicated to Elon Musk, screened out of competition.

Liam and Noel Gallagher have confirmed their attendance at Venice for the premiere of 'Don't Look Back in Anger', a documentary about the reunion of band Oasis.

Actor Russell Crowe is expected to attend the screening of 'What Love Builds', a documentary dedicated to his band Indoor Garden Party.