Danny Boyle to direct Ink

Danny Boyle will direct Ink, a drama documenting the rise of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Danny Boyle is set to direct Ink.

The 68-year-old filmmaker is reportedly taking the helm in the upcoming biopic, which will chronicle the rise of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his empire.

Sources told Deadline that Oscar-nominated actor Guy Pearce is in talks to play the NewsCorp founder, while former Skins star Jack O’Connell is in line to play Larry Lamb, who was hired to run The Sun newspaper when Murdoch purchased it in 1969.

The movie is based on a play by James Graham, who has also adapted the screenplay for the big screen, and will shoot in October.

Ink follows Murdoch’s attempts to make The Sun a must-read and a rival to The Mirror, leading to the rise in British tabloid journalism.

Danny will reteam with his Slumdog Millionaire producer Tessa Ross on the project, with Michael Ellenberg and Tracey Seaward also on board to produce, while Tonia Davis will serve as executive producer.

Danny enjoyed his big career breakthrough with Trainspotting in 1996.

The director helmed the gritty drugs drama – which starred the likes of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle – but never imagined that the movie would become such a huge success.

He recently told The Hollywood Reporter: “I remember there was a wave of disapproval of it building. They had shown a trailer or something on one of the TV movie shows here. And one of the prestigious critics said, ‘Well, that looks shockingly irresponsible about drugs.’ Things like that were building.

“And then there was this journalist, Muriel Gray, and she wrote this piece about Irvine’s [Welsh] book, and about the film. She spoke with authority saying, ‘You do not know what you are talking about,’ all these people piling disapproval on top of it. It was a tipping point.”

Danny relished the experience of working with Ewan on Trainspotting, remembering that the actor was “fanatical” about his role.

The director said: “His agents were putting him in period romances, for which it was perfect. And he shaved it off before we’d offered him the part of Renton in Trainspotting. He shaved it off and lost weight. And then he continued to lose weight. He was fanatical about that. And he was right.”