28 Years Later director Danny Boyle’s rise from Bury to film visionary

Not many directors can convince a reigning monarch to appear in a comedy skit, but Elizabeth II was said to be “very amused” when invited by Danny Boyle to star in a James Bond sketch for the 2012 London Olympics.

The Bury-born filmmaker will add the highly-anticipated 28 Years Later to a back catalogue that includes Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, as the zombie flick screens in cinemas this weekend.

The 68-year-old has always been proud of his hometown of Radcliffe, and fulfilled a promise to mention his local social club during his Academy Awards acceptance speech in 2009.

His family and friends gathered at St Mary’s Catholic Social Club which his father used to run and where Boyle drank lemonade as a boy, to watch him on screen that year when Slumdog Millionaire scooped eight Oscars.

The Indian-set movie, inspired by the TV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, became a runaway global success despite a relatively small $15m budget.

But it was the latest in a string of unconventional movies that had become unexpected mainstream commercial successes for Boyle.

He recently told the Guardian newspaper: “I want to push the boat out, but take the popular audience with me.”

Boyle became enamoured by cinema at a young age, and graduated with a degree in English and Drama from Bangor University in 1978.

He later worked at the prestigious Royal Court in London, dubbed the “writers theatre”, and directed productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A move into making TV dramas for the BBC in Northern Ireland and ITV’s Inspector Morse came next.

Boyle drew fame in the mid-1990s when he directed the dark movie comedy Shallow Grave about Edinburgh flatmates who find a large suitcase of money, which starred Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor.

The film’s modern story telling and visual style was credited with breaking away from the traditional image of British cinema, which had been associated with period dramas.

Boyle collaborated again with McGregor for Trainspotting with its gritty and humorous take on heroin addicts in the Scottish capital.

However the pair fell out when Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio was offered the lead role for Boyle’s 2000 movie The Beach.

The director has admitted “we didn’t treat [McGregor] very well”, while the latter said he had “felt like it was a badge on my sleeve: I am Danny Boyle’s actor”.

They have since made up and reunited with the rest of the Trainspotting cast to make a sequel in 2017.

Boyle was chosen to direct a hugely memorable opening ceremony at the 2012 Olympics – dubbed Isles of Wonder.

The extravaganza drew more than 20m viewers in the UK, and celebrated British achievements in industry, culture and the NHS.

And then there was the viral moment when the Queen Elizabeth II appeared in a sketch with James Bond star Daniel Craig, where she had requested to utter the unforgettable words: “Good evening, Mr Bond.”

Boyle was later chosen to direct the most recent 007 film No Time To Die, but he pulled out months before the start of filming due to “creative differences”.

The filmmaker’s risk-taking and creativity has won him not only fans among audiences but actors too.

Jodie Comer, who appears in 28 Years Later, recently said to be “led by him and be on one of his sets is a proper dream”.

A follow-up to the 2002 film 28 Days Later, their new movie marks a return to horror for Boyle, who recently told the BBC he still found “something intangible but amazing about cinema”.