Danny Boyle’s Ink opened the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, but fortunately for those of us who weren’t able to attend, we got our first look at the movie via the trailer released by Netflix.

According to the official description, Ink is 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. Based on the Tony Award-winning play of the same name.” The new kind of news is the infamous paper The Sun.

The infamous tabloid, owned by the trans-Atlantic purveyor of sleaze Rupert Murdoch (here played by Guy Pearce), has the origin story you might expect: in the late 1960s, a man had a dream to sell a lot of papers. He buys a struggling publication and installs a brash young editor (Larry Lamb, played by Jack O’Connell). Soon, though, things get out of hand (for those of us who care about journalistic integrity) in the rush to sell more and more papers.

“We want our readers to feel alive when they reach for their papers in the morning,” says Murdoch. “Britain is calling out for something new…something dangerous…and something fun!” he exclaims in the trailer.

The screenplay for Ink was adapted by James Graham, who wrote the Tony-nominated stage play. Claire Foy (The Crown) plays Jules Davies, a fictional character who is composited from various actual Sun reporters, who seems to be playing a sort of devil’s advocate as the paper goes to new lengths to one-up the competition for the most salacious headlines.

In the trailer, we see a terrifying home invasion, a kidnapping and hostage situation (that all appear to be the same crime) along with the usual tabloid fodder (sexy young women in lingerie, etc.)

“Just because you can make something public, doesn’t mean you should,” Jules tells Larry, who promptly ignores her advice.
“Run it,” he says.

For those of us trapped stateside, Ink will land in select theaters on December 11th and will appear on Netflix beginning January 8th.