Arabic version: غاي بيرس يقول إن مردوخ «سعيد جداً» باختياره في فيلم إنك

According to ABC News, Rupert Murdoch is reportedly “very happy” that Australian actor Guy Pearce is portraying him in Ink, a new film about the media mogul’s early business life. Pearce told reporters at the Venice Film Festival that he had exchanged messages with Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth, who told him: “Dad’s very happy that you’re playing him.” Pearce added that Murdoch had not seen the film at that point.

Ink, directed by Oscar-winning British filmmaker Danny Boyle, is the headline feature at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film follows Murdoch’s move into Britain in the late 1960s, when he bought the struggling tabloid The Sun and turned it into a success with sex, sport and scandal. It is adapted from British playwright James Graham’s stage play, which ran in the West End and on Broadway between 2017 and 2019.

Boyle said he had not sought to make a negative film about Murdoch, despite his own left-wing politics. He said the play did not “monsterise” Murdoch and described the businessman as a “breath of fresh air” in what Boyle called a rigid British society. Boyle also said Murdoch faced prejudice as an Australian and had a loathing for the British establishment.

The director said the film centres on the relationship between Murdoch and Larry Lamb, the first editor of The Sun, with Lamb as its main character. Murdoch, now 95, has been the subject of biographies, screen projects and the HBO series Succession, which was inspired by the Murdoch family. A Netflix documentary, Dynasty: The Murdochs, was released in March and examined his succession dispute involving his eldest son Lachlan.