Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle will be in charge of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London, organisers said on Thursday.
Boyle got the Oscar as director of Slumdog Millionaire , a film that raked in eight Academy Awards last year. He has also directed movies like Trainspotting and 28 Days Later .
The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games is on July 27 in the new 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.
Boyle’s team includes another famous director, Stephen Daldry ( Billy Elliott, The Reader ) who will be one of the executive producers of the opening and closing ceremonies. Boyle spoke of a “fantastic responsibility” and revealed that he never had second thoughts when he was approached.
“When they offered us the job, they said, ‘Do you want to think about it?’ I said, ‘No, I want to do it,’” he said.
Boyle and organising committee chief Sebastian Coe also said that the ceremony will not be as grand and extravagant as the 2008 one in Beijing.
