Jack O'Connell's "masterpiece" '60s-set drama gets pulsating trailer ahead of cinema release

While reports indicate Jack O'Connell is out of contention for the coveted James Bond role, he is entering this year's equally competitive awards race with his role as The Sun editor Larry Lamb in Danny Boyle's Ink.

A new trailer has landed for the biographical drama ahead of its release in UK and Irish cinemas on 8 January.

O'Connell stars opposite Guy Pearce, the latter of whom plays Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch, in what develops to be a pas de deux that transforms the news landscape into what it is today.

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Murdoch acquired the struggling daily paper The Sun in 1969, appointing Lamb as editor and transforming it into a highly profitable tabloid format.

The film is adapted from the 2017 stage play by James Graham, who also wrote the film's script. Claire Foy (The Crown) portrays the added character of Jules Davies, a composite of various women who worked in the industry at the time.

Brian Gleeson, Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), Patrick Kennedy, Angus Imrie, Jonathan Hyde and Bertie Carvel (Doctor Foster) also star.

Variety currently has O'Connell ranked as a "top-tier contender" for the Oscars' Best Actor alongside Timothée Chalamet for this December's Dune: Part Three, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Robert Eggers' upcoming Werwulf.

The film opened at the Venice International Film Festival to largely positive reviews.

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Describing it as "Citizen Kane by way of Trainspotting", Vulture's Bilge Ebiri called Ink Boyle's best film in decades - putting it above the likes of 28 Years Later and Steve Jobs. "It'll infuriate many," he added, "but it might also be a masterpiece."

The Telegraph's Robbie Collin wrote: "In its own down-at-heel, whisky-breathed, nicotine-fingertipped way, Ink might be Britain’s belated answer to Mad Men, in which a nation’s self-image is lucratively remade in an office by men with a hotline to their customers’ innermost selves, and entire racks of axes to grind."

Critics have been particularly impressed by O'Connell's performance. Variety's Guy Lodge opined: "O’Connell, who’s at his best playing gritty chancers with a point to prove, is such a naturally charismatic and unvarnished presence that we find ourselves oddly sharing in his competitive zeal."

Ink will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on Friday, 8 January 2027.

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