‘Ink’, directed by Danny Boyle, is the surprise film of the San Sebastian Festival’s 74th edition

The surprise film of the San Sebastián Festival’s 74th edition is Ink, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy. The film will show in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre at 11:30 on Friday 25 at a screening open to the press and the general public, while the session on Saturday 26 at 16:00 will be attended by the filmmaker.

The feature had its world premiere in the official selection of the Venice Film Festival and will be released in theatres across Spain on 6 January distributed by Wanda. Written by James Graham based on his original play of the same name, the plot is set in 1969, when a group of visionaries and misfits led by Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb came up with the idea to transform a British daily and forever change the face of global media.

Ink is a Studiocanal, Media Res and House Productions film. Danny Boyle produced the film alongside Tessa Ross (Conclave, The Zone of Interest) and Michael Ellenberg (The Morning Show, Pachinko). Tracey Seaward (The Two Popes, Philomena) is also on board as a producer, with Tonia Davis, Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern, Joe Naftalin, Zoë Edwards, James Graham and Sudie Smyth serving as executive producers. Studiocanal will release the film theatrically in its territories of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia and New Zealand. Studiocanal handled worldwide sales. Ink has sold in all territories worldwide.

The British filmmaker and producer Danny Boyle forged his career in theatre, directing for the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, in addition to episodes for numerous TV series before making his first feature film, Shallow Grave (1994), with which he landed the Silver Shell for Best Director in San Sebastián. He is known for directing films such as 28 Years Later (2025), following the original film 28 Days Later (2002); Yesterday (2019), Steve Jobs (2015), 127 Hours (2010), and Slumdog Millionaire (2008), among others, considered to be one of the few films in the history of the cinema to have swept the Oscars, the Baftas, the Golden Globes and the PGA and DGA awards, both in the category of best film and in that of best director. He also directed Trainspotting (1996), programmed the year after its release at the Velodrome and retrieved in 2004 for the Incorrect@s retrospective, and its sequel T2: Trainspotting (2017).

In 2019, the San Sebastián Festival returned to its tradition of announcing a surprise film, with a programme over the years featuring: Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019), Sportin’ Life (Abel Ferrara, 2020), Spencer (Pablo Larraín, 2021), Blonde (Andrew Dominik, 2022), The Killer (David Fincher, 2023), Joker: Folie à Deux (Todd Phillips, 2024) and Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro, 2025). Furthermore, since 2022 the surprise film has been sponsored by the construction company Antiguo Berri.

Ink

Danny Boyle (United Kingdom)

Country(ies) of production: UK - France - USA

Cast: Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy

An explosive cinematic rollercoaster about 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.