After taking home the Best Director Oscar with Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s next film is 127 Hours, the story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. The film will employ some interesting techniques, such as having two cinematographers and almost an hour of no dialogue. Joining James Franco, Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn is Cloverfield and Party Down star Lizzy Caplan. Movieweb reports that Caplan will be playing Ralston’s sister and the film will start shooting in Utah this April. Read the full story

Last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Director, Danny Boyle, is planning to begin shooting on his next film, 127 Hours. It is expected to begin filming very soon with James Franco in the lead. It’s based on the true story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who amputated his own arm with a dull knife after being trapped for five days. Much decision was directed towards the movie when it was revealed that the film would have apparently over an hour of no dialogue in its running time which would presumably be around twice that length at two hours. How this would be accomplished in a successful manner is still being debated. Now, a second unconventional decision has been made for the production of the film.

The Playlist has learned that Boyle will be using two cinematographers for the film, the first of whom is Anthony Dod Mantle, who did his 28 Days Later, and the second is Enrique Chediak who worked on 28 Weeks Later, which Boyle himself did not direct. His reasoning for such a decision is a unique and follows as such:

We’ve got this idea that because there are so few characters in it, we’ll use two cinematographers: Anthony Dod Mantle, who did 28 Days Later, and Enrique Chediak, who did 28 Weeks Later. One is from Northern Europe and the other is South American. They’ll bring different things to it. Like in a conventional film you’d have a comic character and a villain.

This decision is one that I initially think “ehh” to, seeming like a gimmick at first glance. But when his reasoning is laid out, I actually like it. I’m not entirely clear if it will be a clear split or an interchanging, although I imagine the latter would present a bigger problem than the former, having a rotation of cinematographers on the set. Regardless, I’m confident in Boyle to make this work, because his work has shown that he’s a brilliant director, even when working with lesser material.

What do you think of Boyle’s decision to use two cinematographers for 127 Hours?

Several major casting updates have been confirmed by Mike Fleming over at Deadline Hollywood, and perhaps the most notable (at least in my opinion) is information regarding Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire follow up 127 Days. As most of you probably know, the film follows Aron Ralston, the infamous mountain climber who cut off his own arm to save his life. The big announcement has already been made that James Franco will star as Ralston, but we now know that Amber Tamblyn will co-star as Ralston’s girlfriend, with their relationship played out primarily (if not entirely) through flashbacks. I am extremely excited for this film, and after Franco’s masterful performance in Milk was overlooked by awards voters, I’d have to think he could be easy Oscar bait if this film delivers. Read the full story

According to Katie Featherston’s official twitter page, she has auditioned for Danny Boyle’s upcoming film 127 Hours starring James Franco.

Auditioned this morning for Danny Boyle (and he read the scene with me!) …Awesome.

For those that don’t know the name, Featherston played the haunted Katie in 2009’s breakout horror film Paranormal Activity. 127 Hours tells the story of Aron Ralston. The hiker who in 2003 fell down a cliff and got his arm crushed in a massive boulder. After 5 days he had no choice but to amputate the arm and make another hike to safety. The film is set for a winter release. It is unknown at this point what role Featherston auditioned for.

Would you like to see Katie Featherston is a Danny Boyle movie?

In this episode of the The Film Stage podcast Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca discuss Daybreakers, Youth In Revolt, The Lovely Bones. We also talk a bit about the Spider-Man reboot and James Franco joining Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. You can stream the episode below or download it here. (right click + save as…) Read the full story

A few months ago it was revealed that director Danny Boyle’s follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire will be 127 Hours, which tells the story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. It was rumored that Ryan Gosling may take the role, but now Production Weekly confirms it will be James Franco. The script is written by Simon Beaufoy, the man behind Slumdog. The first hour of the film will have no dialogue, as previously reported. Fox Searchlight is also behind this production. Read the full story

It feels almost wrong to write words in reporting this news, because the news itself proclaims its wordless-ness. Well, so be it. /Film reports that Danny Boyle intends to shoot the first hour of his new project, 127 Hours, based on the incredible true story of Aron Ralston, who had to amputate an arm to survive a hiking accident, with no dialogue.

Whoa. An intriguing experiment to say the least and one with talent behind the screenplay – one Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winner behind Slumdog Millionaire and The Full Monty. Imagine reading 60 pages of a screenplay with no dialogue. You know what they call that? A novella.

Now imagine shooting it. Now imagine acting in it.

And we may get it all by next winter, according to the wishes of both Boyle and Fox Searchlight. Unfortunately, Beaufoy has to finish/start the screenplay first. Either way, The Film Stage will be counting the days to see this thing.

What do you think of this news? Can it work and be accepted by a mainstream audience?

We talked about it a few weeks ago, but it was confirmed by Variety last night that Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is taking on the story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. Ryan Gosling was rumored but it looks like they are still in search of a leading man. Boyle is teaming up with Fox Searchlight once again to start shooting next year with a late 2010 release. The film, titled 127 Hours is being written by Simon Beaufoy, who was behind Slumdog. Check out a full synopsis below. Read the full story

After winning his Oscar we have been eagerly waiting for Danny Boyle to choose his next project. In an interview with DigitalSpy (via ThePlaylist) the Slumdog Millionaire director  suggests that his next film may be the story of mountain clumber Aron Ralston, who after a 2003 hiking accident had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife. In the interview, when asked about his next project, Boyle says:

“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.”

Boyle previously expressed interest in Ryan Gosling for the film, which looks similar to an Into The Wild-type adventure. In the interview Boyle denies his My Fair Lady remake, the Mumbai-based Maximum City, and 28 Months Later, all previously mentioned projects. With shooting supposedly taking place in March I would bet some more details will be announced soon.

Read the full story

Star Director Danny Boyle has signed a three-year exclusive production deal with Fox Searchlight and Pathe Pictures. Both production houses were key players in the sensational success of Boyle’s 2008 hit Slumdog Millionaire.

Fox Searchlight and Pathe Pictures will co-finance and co-produce Boyle’s future films with Searchlight handling the domestic distribution and Pathe distributing in Europe.

Read the rest of this entry >>