Guy Pearce to Play Rupert Murdoch for Danny Boyle’s ‘Ink’

Pearce would play infamous media mogul Rupert Murdoch and O’Connell would be a newspaper editor in the story of the troubled rise of UK tabloid The Sun.

(Left) Guy Pearce arrives on the red carpet of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Credit/Provider: Etienne Laurent / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Center) Danny Boyle attends the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) Actor Jack O’Connell prior to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ presentation of its 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowships Screenwriting Awards & Live Read on November 13 in Beverly Hills. Credit/Provider: Jordan Murph / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Preview:

Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell are in talks for Danny Boyle’s next movie.
The ‘28 Years Later’ director is preparing a film about Rupert Murdoch.
‘Ink’ adapts James Graham’s play.

Filmmaker Danny Boyle is no stranger to true-life tales of powerful figures, especially his unconventional 2015 biopic ‘Steve Jobs’.

So it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s targeting an even more infamous figure for new movie ‘Ink’, which will chart a pivotal time in the life and career of Fox company owner and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Steve Jobs

"Can a great man be a good man?"

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Release Date: Oct 23, 2015

Run Time: 2 hr 2 min

Budget: $30,000,000

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen

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Boyle is developing the film and Deadline reports that he has two actors in talks to play main roles –– ‘The Brutalist’s Guy Pearce is circling the role of Murdoch, while Jack O’Connell is locking down a deal to play a newspaper editor.

Related Story: Every Danny Boyle Movie Ranked from Infected to Healthy

What’s the story of ‘Ink’?

Director Danny Boyle for Columbia Pictures' '28 Years Later'. Photo: Anthony Ghnassia.

‘Ink’, which playwright James Graham is adapting from his stage work, follows a group of visionaries and misfits who had an idea for a new kind of news –– one that would give the people what they want and would change the face of the world we live in today.

Specifically, it’ll chronicle Murdoch’s struggling UK newspaper, The Sun, as he intends to make it a must-read news source and hires Larry Lamb (O’Connell) to run the paper. The purchase of the paper would start a long-standing rivalry between The Sun and The Mirror, leading to the rise of the British tabloids as we know them.

Boyle aims to have the cameras rolling in October.

Where else can we see Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell?

Guy Pearce arrives on the red carpet of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Credit/Provider: Etienne Laurent / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Pearce was most recently seen in the aforementioned ‘The Brutalist’, for which he received an Oscar nomination.

He has a few movies on the way, including Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’ and new Netflix thriller ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’.

And he’s attached to a ‘The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ sequel and a new thriller called ‘Poor Boy’.

O’Connell, who was a charismatic vampire in ‘Sinners’, also appeared in Boyle’s ‘28 Years Later’ and will be even more part of follow-up ‘The Bone Temple’, which has been directed by Nia DaCosta and is due out on January 16th, 2026.

The actor will also be seen in ‘Godzilla x Kong: Supernova’, which is shooting now for a 2027 release.

When will ‘Ink’ be on screens?

StudioCanal is fully backing the new movie and has a host of territories under its distribution deal, but has yet to announce a date and is still figuring out a partner to handle it in the US.