Danny Boyle Says Next Project Is 'Slum Dog,' Talks 'Trainspotting 2,' Falling Out With McGregor

If you go by what Erik posted earlier this month, Sunshine will be a mess -- there were an inconceivable number of re-writes and really poorly-received test screenings. However, to hear Danny Boyle talk of his film, it's an intense sci-fi adventure. Sure, he's the director and creator, so he has to talk it up. But perhaps this is just another sort of Fountain flick -- many people hate it and boo, while others weep and applaud. In an interview with The Guardian, Boyle gives tons of details about making the film, his process and his future.

Instead of making a scientifically-sound plot, the director focused on making his group of actors comfortable with astronaut-like things -- a 747 flight simulator, scuba-diving and an acrobatic plane so they could see zero-G. He's also quite adamant about his casting of Cillian Murphy as a physicist. He compares the cute actor to his scientific adviser, Dr. Brian Cox, and says of the doctor: "[he] is very handsome... And he looks like Cillian." But really, the guy doesn't have to defend his casting much, having picked out talent like Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Robert Carlyle. It is, therefore, no surprise that the film doesn't focus on the grand space outside the vessel that is heading for the sun with a nuke the size of Manhattan, but rather the actors confined on the ship. At the very least, the film sounds more linear than The Fountain.

All sci-fied out, Boyle will return to millions and kids next with Slum Dog Millionaire, which is based on a true story about a boy who won the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but then faced cheating accusations. He's just returned from a scouting trip in Mumbai, so the film seems to be underway. But what comes after that? it seems that he's looking to work with Hugh Grant in the future, of all people! Not only that, but he's hoping that he can reconcile with Ewan McGregor as well. Years after their falling out, he's still hoping that Ewan will re-warm to the idea of a Trainspotting sequel: "He's one of those guys who can do it, who has got that magic thing that people love. you don't come across it very often." However, he's also waiting for the actors to age: "They look like they're in a spa every weekend rather than a bar. But when age hits them we'll be there, waiting." Sorry, Mr. Boyle, but I'm quite happy with how Jonny Lee Miller looks.