Danny Boyle left "in grief" after David Bowie withholds music rights for new film
The Steve Jobs director was rebuffed by Bowie, but is "very keen" to direct a musical
He may be one of Britain’s best-known, and best-loved, directors, with classics such as Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, and even the London Olympic opening ceremony under his belt, but Danny Boyle still has unfinished business in film.
In an exclusive interview in this week’s Radio Times magazine, the filmmaker revealed how he was even more determined to make new release Steve Jobs a success after being rejected by one of the music world’s biggest names.
Boyle had been working with Frank Cottrell Boyce, who also wrote the opening ceremony dialogue, on a script about David Bowie but the project was halted when the Ziggy Stardust singer wouldn’t let them use his music, leaving the pair “in grief.” Boyle put his energy into Steve Jobs, he told Radio Times, to “fill the space in my heart left by the abandoned Bowie script.”
Despite confronting what he calls “the biggest challenge I’ll ever have in my life” in the form of Aaron Sorkin’s script based on the Apple co-founder, Boyle shows no sign of letting up.
He also confirmed that the long-awaited follow-up to Trainspotting is definitely in the pipeline – “hopefully it will come out on the 20th anniversary of Trainspotting [in 2016]” – although it won’t take the name of the Irvine Welsh novel it is be based on: “it’s not called Porno!”
However, it seems his experience with Bowie hasn’t put Boyle off directing a musical, something he says he's "very keen" to turn his hand to. Fans the world over will hope Bowie “Changes” his mind.
