Danny Boyle's Murdoch biopic to open Venice Film Festival

A film about press baron Rupert Murdoch's transformation of the British media by 'Trainspotting' director Danny Boyle will open this year's Venice Film Festival in September, the festival announced on Thursday.
'Ink' tells the story of Murdoch's purchase of The Sun tabloid in 1969, which he turned into the best-selling newspaper in the country through a mix of sport, explicit content and right-wing politics.
The Australia-born media mogul is played by Guy Pearce ('Memento', 'The Hurt Locker'), with his first The Sun editor Larry Lamb played by Jack O'Connell ('Sinners').
It is set in 1969, 'the year we first walked on the moon - and the year Rupert Murdoch & Larry Lamb launched a newspaper that was to change the world far more', Boyle said in a joint statement with the Venice Film Festival.
The film, based on a play of the same name by screenwriter James Graham, will premiere on the opening night of the festival which runs from September 2-12.
Boyle won a best director Oscar for 'Slumdog Millionaire' and has a string of hits to his name, including '28 Days Later' and its sequel '28 Years Later'.
He previously turned his lens on another historic business figure in 'Steve Jobs', a 2015 feature about the founder of Apple.
The full line-up for Venice, one of the big three European festivals alongside Cannes and Berlin, is expected to be unveiled next week.
Hollywood favourites George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn ('The Exorcist', 'Interstellar') are to be given lifetime achievement Golden Lion awards this year.
'This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honour. It also probably means I'm old, but I'll take it,' Clooney, a regular in Venice, said in a statement last week. -AFP