It’s been months since Danny Boyle won his his Best Director and Picture Oscars for “Slumdog Millionaire,” and yet, he still hasn’t announced a new project, right?
Well it sounds like he’s decided. He tells Digital Spy that he has chosen his next project, but won’t reveal what it is yet, but it won’t be the Bombay-set “Maximum City,” the sequel to “Trainspotting” (“Porno”), “28 Months Later” or “My Fair Lady,” because he mentions all these films in the interview as projects that are in the works. Asked if he knows what’s next he replies:
“I do, but I can’t quite tell you about it because it’s not quite all signed, sealed and sorted out legal-wise. It’s based on a true story so there were complications to do with rights, that kind of stuff. We’re close to solving it and hope to be shooting in March next year.”
With the aforementioned projects out of the way, what does that leave? The Aron Ralston story that was looking like the next one in the queue regardless. And this pretty much all but confirms it.
Ralston is the American mountain climber who made headlines in 2003 when he was forced to amputate part of his arm with a dull knife, after it became pinned under a boulder in a hiking accident. This is a project that Boyle has been circling since June of this year, around the time he signed his multi-film deal with Fox Searchlight. So yes, it’s based on a true story, there probably are some legal complications and rights because Ralston is still alive and they might be fictionalizing part of the story. We’ll bet you a $10000 dollars this wilderness drama is next.
Last we heard Boyle was eyeing Ryan Gosling for the role which would be a great choice and perhaps part of the “signed, sealed and delivered,” part is hammering out Gosling’s deal. Don’t be surprised if this gets confirmed in the trades soon.
Boyle also confirms the rumor of an attempt to do a “My Fair Lady” remake, evidently with Keira Knightley, but says he already passed. “I did some work on that with Duncan Kenworthy, Emma Thompson and Cameron Mackintosh, which was fantastic. It hasn’t worked out with me in the end, so that’s no for me.”
He also re-confirms that “Maximum City,” won’t be next, and that “28 Months Later,” is only a “possibility” at this point and nothing more concrete. “It’s a bit unformed at the moment,” he said.