Danny Boyle explains AI Thatcher in Ink at London festival
Danny Boyle did not ask Margaret Thatcher's estate for permission before bringing her back on screen with artificial intelligence in Ink.
Speaking during the 70th BFI London Film Festival, Boyle said an impersonator performed the scenes as the former British prime minister and Thatcher's face was added afterwards with AI, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The use was deliberately limited. Boyle said AI was deployed very sparingly and the production was careful to make sure it did not replace anyone. The same technique was used for scenes involving the Kray brothers, the twin gangster figures in the story, according to WIONews.
Ink is an adaptation of James Graham's Fleet Street stage drama, centred on the historic London street long associated with British newspapers, according to the BFI. The film traces Rupert Murdoch's rise on Fleet Street and his takeover of the tabloid The Sun, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Boyle said he once met Murdoch himself. The lunch party came after Slumdog Millionaire had made money for Fox Searchlight. He called it extremely uneventful.
The festival conversation was with Puck's Matt Belloni, in a discussion partly recorded for The Town podcast. Boyle also appears in the festival's Screen Talk line-up, according to the BFI.
Festival listings have Ink screening on Monday 12 October 2026 at 21:00 and on Sunday 18 October 2026, according to the BFI.
Asked which recent films had impressed him, Boyle named several. He said he loved Obsession and Backrooms, enjoyed The Odyssey, and is looking forward to Dune 3.
What makes this stand out is how openly Boyle addressed the method. He described a performance first, with technology layered on, rather than a digital creation standing alone.
