Danny Boyle Confirms Full Sun Headlines Will Appear in US Version of Ink
Danny Boyle has confirmed that the Sun newspaper headlines blacked out in the epilogue of Ink will be shown in full in the United States theatrical and streaming version. He made the announcement on Saturday, 14 November, while receiving the Deadline Legend Award at Deadline's Contenders Film Los Angeles event at the DGA Theater, according to Deadline.
The film is a Netflix drama about the late 1960s, when Rupert Murdoch and editor Larry Lamb took over The Sun. Jack O'Connell plays Lamb and Guy Pearce plays Murdoch. The story is based on James Graham's play, and Graham also wrote the screenplay.
The difference between versions comes down to British law. The UK cut could not show the Sun headlines because of Britain's libel laws, which allow people to sue over published statements they say are false. The uncensored headlines are now being edited into a new cut of the film. That cut is due in select theatres on 11 December.
One of the blacked-out headlines is The Sun's "The Truth" front page about the 1989 deaths of 97 fans. They were crushed while trying to enter Hillsborough Stadium for an FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The report blamed Liverpool fans for the disaster. It relied on police and official reports that were later shown to be fabricated, as Deadline reported.
That history is why the headlines have become the film's most talked-about detail. For many viewers in Britain, the Hillsborough families and the city of Liverpool are not distant events. The decision to show the headlines in full in the US version puts that front page on screen in a form the UK audience has not yet seen.
Ink had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it opened the event. The film reaches British audiences on 8 January, when it becomes available to stream on Netflix in the UK.
So the calendar now has two dates. US theatres get the full-headline cut on 11 December, and UK viewers can stream the film from 8 January. Whether the two versions will be released in the same form on every platform has not been announced.
