Venice 2026 Opens With Boyle's 'Ink'; Lineup Set — SkimNews
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- The 83rd Venice Film Festival opened September 2, 2026, with Danny Boyle's Ink — starring Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, and Claire Foy — serving as the opening night film.
- The competition lineup features awards-season contenders including Florian Zeller's Bunker, Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, Lance Oppenheim's Primetime, Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love, Andrea Pallaoro's The Echo Chamber, Casey Affleck's Company, and Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard.
- Studio titles are largely absent this year, with the program leaning on auteur-driven work from Luca Guadagnino, Paul Schrader, and Wim Wenders, plus Laura Poitras' short on ICE protests in Minnesota and a Dylan Southern/Will Lovelace documentary on Oasis's comeback.
- Deadline's review of Ink calls Boyle's depiction of 1969 London and Rupert Murdoch's launch of The Sun "thrilling," praising his "whip-smart, in-your-face style" and noting "all the cylinders are firing."
- The broader program includes films starring Robert Pattinson, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, Dakota Johnson, John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, Alicia Vikander and Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, and Kate and Rooney Mara in their first movie together.
Why it matters: With major studio titles largely absent, this year's Venice lineup leans entirely on auteur-driven competition films for its early awards-season momentum. Deadline's enthusiastic opening-night review of Ink gives Boyle's Murdoch origin story a strong launch ahead of the fall festival calendar.
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