20 June 2025
Danny Boyle still has one big regret about the opening ceremony of London 2012.
Danny Boyle directed the opening ceremony in 2012
The 68-year-old filmmaker devised and directed Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, which featured nods to James Bond, Queen Elizabeth, the National Health Service, and William Shakespeare – but Danny regrets that the BBC wasn’t a bigger part of the production.
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Danny explained: “My biggest regret was that we didn’t feature the BBC more.
“I was stopped from doing it because it was the host broadcaster. Every other objection, I told them to go f*** themselves. But that one I accepted and I regret that now, especially given the way that technology is moving.
“The idea that we have a broadcaster that is part of our national identity but is also trusted around the world and that can’t be bought, can’t be subsumed into Meta or whatever, feels really precious. So yeah, if I was doing it again I’d big up the BBC big time. Everything else I’d do exactly the same.”
Danny is well-known for directing movies such as Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Slumdog Millionaire. But the acclaimed director admits to being contradictory in his approach to life and filmmaking.
He explained: “The last time Lou Reed spoke in public, he said: ‘I want to blow it all up,’ because he was still a punk at heart. And if you can embrace that spirit, it keeps you in a fluid, changeable state that’s more important than having some fixed place where you belong. So, I do try to carry those values and keep that kind of faith.
“Not that my work is truly revolutionary or radical. I mean, I’m not smashing things to pieces. I value the popular audience. I believe in popular entertainment. I want to push the boat out, but take the popular audience with me.”
Asked if his approach is contradictory, Danny replied: “Yeah, of course it is. But I’ve found a way to resolve it – in my own mind, at least.”
