The Venice Film Festival unveiled its full lineup for this year's edition, confirming Danny Boyle's Rupert Murdoch drama "Ink" as the opening-night film and setting George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn to receive the festival's top honorary prize. The 83rd edition of the festival runs September 2-12 on the Venice Lido, with online ticket reservations opening August 27.
"Ink," starring Guy Pearce as a young Murdoch alongside Jack O'Connell and Claire Foy, dramatizes the media mogul's acquisition and transformation of the British tabloid The Sun. The film, adapted by playwright James Graham from his own stage play, will premiere in competition before a December theatrical release and a January arrival on Netflix, according to Variety. The festival closes with Giovanni Veronesi's period drama "God Laughs."
A Jury Led by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal will preside over the main competition jury, joined by filmmakers Kaouther Ben Hania, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To, composer Daniel Blumberg and film theorist Francesco Casetti. The competition slate includes new work from Martin McDonagh, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Werner Herzog and Nanni Moretti, according to La Biennale di Venezia. Expected attendees on the Lido this year include Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Robert Pattinson and Alicia Vikander, along with musician Phoebe Bridgers, who is making her formal acting debut in Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime."
Clooney and Burstyn will each receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, an honorary award bestowed by the festival's board on the recommendation of artistic director Alberto Barbera. Clooney has been nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories over his career, while Burstyn won the best actress Oscar for Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and is known for "The Exorcist" and "The Last Picture Show," according to Deadline.
Venice has in recent years positioned itself as a launchpad for the fall awards season, with the past two Golden Lion winners, "Father Mother Sister Brother" and "The Room Next Door," both going on to figure in major Oscar campaigns. This year's slate arrives amid a strong year at the box office, with several 2026 releases, including the Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" and Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," already crossing $1 billion worldwide.
