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Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Danny Boyle's turn.

Boyle was an altar boy for eight years and his mother had the priesthood in mind for him, but at the age of 14 he was persuaded by a priest not to transfer to a seminary. He studied English and drama at the University College of North Wales, where he directed several productions for the student drama society. He moved on to theater, as well as TV productions. But after watching Apocalypse Now, he knew he found his calling in cinema.

From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?

That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

Shallow Grave (1994)

"What's a little murder between friends?"

His directorial debut. It stars Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston, and Kerry Fox. Its plot follows a group of flatmates in Edinburgh who set off a chain of events after dismembering and burying a mysterious new tenant who died and left behind a large sum of money.

Shooting lasted for thirty days. The tight budgetary restraints during filming meant many of the props had to be auctioned off for them to afford sufficient film stock. Boyle claimed that Christopher Eccleston was so afraid of getting locked in a real-life mortuary for a scene, he had to ask a crew member to stand in the shadows and comfort the nervous actor.

Despite a first-time writer and director, the film found great success. It earned $19.8 million through a very successful run in Europe. It also received a very solid response. Boyle was just getting started.

• Budget: $2,500,000.

• Domestic gross: $2,079,569.

• Worldwide gross: $19,879,569.

Trainspotting (1996)

"Choose life."

His second film. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, it stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, and Kelly Macdonald. The film follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film include an exploration of the urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh.

Producer Andrew Macdonald read Irvine Welsh's book on a plane, and felt that it could be made into a film. He turned it on to Boyle, who was excited by its potential to be the "most energetic film you've ever seen — about something that ultimately ends up in purgatory or worse". John Hodge read it and made it his goal to "produce a screenplay which would seem to have a beginning, a middle and an end, would last 90 minutes and would convey at least some of the spirit and the content of the book."

The film received critical acclaim for its directing, acting, humor, soundtrack, and themes, and it was subsequently ranked as one of the greatest films of the 1990s. It was also a huge box office success, earning over $70 million worldwide and lifting Boyle's profile. The film's release sparked controversy in some countries, including Britain, Australia and the United States, as to whether or not it promoted and romanticised drug use. U.S. Senator Bob Dole accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, although he later admitted that he had not seen the film. But despite that, it received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

• Budget: $2,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $16,501,785.

• Worldwide gross: $71,548,935.

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

"A twisted love story."

His third film. It stars Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Ian Holm and Dan Hedaya. The plot follows two angels who are sent to Earth to help make a disgruntled kidnapper and his hostage fall in love.

While Boyle and Hodge hit gold with their previous films, that wasn't the case here. The film was panned for its comedy, story and tone. And despite having a big studio involved, it made less than their previous films and bombed.

• Budget: $12,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $4,287,595.

• Worldwide gross: $14,633,270.

The Beach (2000)

"Somewhere on this planet, it must exist."

His fourth film. Based on the novel by Alex Garland, it stars stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet, and Robert Carlyle. It follows Richard, a young man who travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of an odd map. Rumours state that the map leads to an island paradise. Accompanied by a few friends, he sets out to find it.

Ewan McGregor was cast as the main character before leaving due to disputes with the director. It was speculated that Boyle was offered additional funding under the condition that DiCaprio be cast and his character made American. McGregor said it was simply a misunderstanding, while Boyle reportedly apologized for his treatment.

The film received mainly negative reviews; critics derided it for its writing, characters and acting. The film disappointed in the United States, but it was successful in the rest of the world, earning $144 million worldwide, so it was still a box office success.

• Budget: $50,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $39,785,027.

• Worldwide gross: $144,056,873.

28 Days Later (2002)

"The days are numbered."

His fifth film. It stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson. It follows a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.

Alex Garland was inspired by the George Romero films Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, which he loved as a child but said that he had largely forgotten about the zombie genre until he played the video game Resident Evil, which reminded him how much he loved zombies after "having not really encountered zombies for quite a while". Boyle liked Garland's screenplay for a proposed zombie film, and he decided to collaborate. Despite that, neither Boyle nor Garland refer to the creatures as "zombies".

Despite not carrying a high budget, the producers were able to close off sections of street for minutes at a time, usually in early morning before sunrise on Sundays. They typically had around 45 minutes after dawn to shoot the locations devoid of traffic and members of the public. This allowed them to film at the Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street. The 9/11 attacks took place during filming, and Boyle noted the parallel between the "missing persons" flyers seen at the beginning of the film and similar flyers posted in New York City in the wake of the attacks. Boyle said his crew probably would not have been granted permission to close off Whitehall for filming after the terrorist attacks.

At a certain point, producer Andrew Macdonald announced to the crew that the production had run out of money. Filming ceased without a closing sequence being shot. After pitching several different ideas for an ending and the original ending which featured Jim's death tested badly with audiences, the studio granted more funding to film the ending scene that was eventually used. The crew organised for a real jet to fly overhead for them to film, as this was cheaper than approximately £70,000 for a computer-generated one.

After two poorly received films, Boyle bounced back with an acclaimed film. And it also proved to be a success at the box office, earning $84 million worldwide. The film was also named as a huge influence on the zombie genre, even though Boyle and Garland aren't using the term. A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released on 2007, but neither Boyle nor Garland returned for their roles.

• Budget: $8,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $45,064,915.

• Worldwide gross: $84,661,434.

Millions (2004)

"Can anyone be truly good?"

His sixth film. Based on the novel by Frank Cottrell Boyce, it stars Alex Etel, Lewis Owen McGibbon, and James Nesbitt. Set in England just before British adoption of the euro, the story features two boys who must decide what to do with a windfall in expiring currency.

It received favorable reviews, and was another success for Boyle.

• Budget: N/A.

• Domestic gross: $6,584,159.

• Worldwide gross: $11,782,282.

Sunshine (2007)

"If it dies, so do we."

His seventh film. It stars Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Chipo Chung, and Mark Strong. Set in the year 2057, the sun is dying and a group of astronauts embark on a dangerous mission to reignite it.

After a project focused on the 1999 Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire was scrapped, Boyle started looking for new scripts. He found Alex Garland's script for Sunshine, and decided that this should be his next film. Producer Andrew Maconald took it to 20th Century Fox, but they declined as they found it similar to their box office flop Solaris, so Searchlight took it instead. Since the preliminary budget at $40 million was too demanding for Searchlight, Macdonald sought outside financing from British lottery funds, U.K. rebates, and outside investor Ingenious Film Partners.

Garland was inspired to write the film based on scientific ideas about the heat death of the universe. Garland had wondered about what would result from the Sun's death after reading in an American scientific periodical "an article projecting the future of mankind from a physics-based, atheist perspective". To shape the science of the film, Boyle and Garland hired scientific advisers, including NASA employees and astrophysicists such as Brian Cox (not that one). Despite consulting on the accuracy, Cox was not annoyed by the creative liberties with the logic (one single nuclear stellar bomb wouldn't be enough to reignite the sun), also asking critics to not think much of it.

Boyle and Garland worked on the script for a year, spent a second year preparing for production, filmed for three months, and spent a third full year editing and completing visual effects. After completion of filming, Boyle said that he would not revisit the science fiction genre, citing production as a spiritually exhausting experience. The director said making the film had conquered his fear of the difficulty encountered in producing a science fiction film, and that he would move on from the genre.

Boyle chose to have an ensemble cast to encourage a more democratic process, similar to the ensemble cast in Alien. Boyle also chose to have the cast be international in order to reflect the mission's purpose "on behalf of all mankind." Boyle desired to capture a sense of togetherness among the actors by assigning them to live together. He also enrolled the cast members in space training and scuba diving, as well as watching films together.

The film received great reviews from critics, although there were polarized reactions towards the film's tonal shift in the final act. But despite a big budget for a prestige studio, the film was a box office dud.

• Budget: $40,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $3,675,753.

• Worldwide gross: $34,806,812.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

"What does it take to find a lost love? A. Money B. Luck C. Smarts D. Destiny"

His eighth film. Loosely based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup, it stars Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. As a contestant on an Indian-Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Jamal surprises everyone by answering every question correctly so far, winning ₹1 crore (US$120,000), and he is one question away from winning the grand prize of ₹2 crore (US$240,000). Accused of cheating, he recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he was able to answer each question.

After reading the novel, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy made three research trips to India and interviewed street children, finding himself impressed with their attitudes. The screenwriter said of his goal for the script: "I wanted to get (across) the sense of this huge amount of fun, laughter, chat, and sense of community that is in these slums. What you pick up on is this mass of energy." Boyle was approached over directing the film, but he didn't want to make a film on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. But he changed his mind when he found that Beaufoy was involved, as The Full Monty was one of his favorite films.

The film was inspired by Indian cinema, and Boyle even decided to have more dialogue in Hindi. The rags-to-riches, underdog theme was also a recurring theme in classic Bollywood movies from the 1950s through to the 1980s, when "India worked to lift itself from hunger and poverty." Other classic Bollywood tropes in the film include "the fantasy sequences" and the montage sequence where "the brothers jump off a train and suddenly they are seven years older".

The producers wanted Prem Kumar to be played by Shahrukh Khan, an established Bollywood star and host of the 2007 series of Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). However, Khan turned down the role, concerned that he did not want to give his audience the impression that the real show was a fraud by playing a fraudulent host in the movie. In subsequent years, and despite the film's success, he said he does not regret turning it down, although he has also supported the film from criticism.

The film received critical acclaim, and was quickly named as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. But it didn't stop just with the acclaim, it was also a colossal hit with the audience. The film built insane word-of-mouth across the world, passing The Beach to become Boyle's highest grossing film. It closed its run with a colossal $378 million worldwide, which made it the highest grossing Searchlight film ever (a record it still maintains).

At the Oscars, it received 10 nominations and won a leading 8: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Sound Mixing. Boyle was finally an Oscar-winning director.

• Budget: $15,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $141,319,928.

• Worldwide gross: $378,411,362.

127 Hours (2010)

"Every second counts."

His ninth film. It stars James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, and Clémence Poésy. In the film, canyoneer Aron Ralston must find a way to escape after he gets trapped by a boulder in an isolated slot canyon in Bluejohn Canyon, southeastern Utah, in April 2003.

Boyle decided to team up with Simon Beaufoy again on an Aron Ralston biopic, and the project marked his first writing credit. He wanted Cillian Murphy as Ralston, but he got James Franco instead. Boyle made the very unusual move of hiring two cinematographers to work first unit, Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak, each of whom shot 50 percent of the film by trading off with each other. This allowed Boyle and Franco to work long days without wearing out the crew. Franco said that the experience was frustrating, as he not only had to endure pain, but also feel exhaustion from standing on the same spot for hours.

There were some reports that many audience members felt sick while watching the amputation scene. But it didn't prevent the film from becoming a box office success, hitting $60 million worldwide. It was also critically acclaimed. It received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

• Budget: $18,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $18,335,230.

• Worldwide gross: $60,738,797.

Trance (2013)

"Inside the man outside the law."

His tenth film. It stars James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson, and follows an employee at an auction house who loses his memory after he steals an irreplaceable piece of art. His partner sends him to a therapist in order to retrace his steps and find the missing painting.

The film received mixed reviews for its thin writing and was a box office bomb.

• Budget: $20,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $2,328,743.

• Worldwide gross: $24,261,569.

Steve Jobs (2015)

"Can a great man be a good man?"

His 11th film. It stars Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Katherine Waterston, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jeff Daniels. The film covers fourteen years in the life of Steve Jobs, specifically ahead of three press conferences he gave during that time - the formal unveiling of the Macintosh 128K on January 24, 1984; the unveiling of the NeXT Computer on October 12, 1988; and the unveiling of the iMac G3 on May 6, 1998.

When Walter Isaacson published the biography book based on Jobs' life, Sony quickly bought the film rights with Aaron Sorkin writing. Sorkin was not interested in covering the entirety of Jobs' life; he preferred to set the film around 3 important periods of his life. But most importantly, it had to explore Jobs' relationship with a few key people: Steve Wozniak, Joanna Hoffman, John Sculley, Andy Hertzfeld, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, and Chrisann Brennan. Sorkin had a chance to speak with all of them while developing the screenplay, although the dialogue would still be fiction.

David Fincher was approached to direct, and he wanted Christian Bale to play Jobs. However, he left due to contract disputes. When Boyle signed, Bale, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper were considered for the role. Eventually, Michael Fassbender was chosen.

The film received critical acclaim, and was named as one of the best films of 2015. On limited release, it opened with $521,522 in 4 theaters ($130,380 per-theater average), showing strong promise. But it disappointed on its wide release with just $7 million. Despite the acclaim and great word-of-mouth, it quickly crashed and closed with just $34 million worldwide, making it a box office flop. Boyle expressed disappointment at the box office performance, while suggesting that Universal expanded the film's release "too wide too soon" and that the studio's move was "arrogant."

• Budget: $30,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $17,766,658.

• Worldwide gross: $34,441,873.

T2 Trainspotting (2017)

"Face your past. Choose your future."

His 12th film. The sequel to Trainspotting and loosely based on Porno by Irvine Welch, it stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Shirley Henderson, James Cosmo, and Kelly Macdonald. After 20 years, Mark Renton returns to Edinburgh to reunite with his old friends. However, things do not go as planned when he joins his best friend, Simon, and his lover to start a brothel.

10 years after the original was released, Boyle expressed interest in adapting Porno, but he wanted the cast to age so they would "look ravaged" as the story needed it. In 2015, Boyle decided to get John Hodge back as the writer, although he said the film would only be "loosely based" on Porno, as he felt that the book was not great compared to the original.

The film received a positive response from critics and audiences. It earned $41 million worldwide, which was less than what the original did 20 years prior.

• Budget: $18,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $2,402,004.

• Worldwide gross: $41,681,746.

Yesterday (2019)

"Everyone in the world has forgotten the Beatles. Everyone except Jack."

His 13th film. It stars Himesh Patel, Lily James, Joel Fry, Ed Sheeran, and Kate McKinnon. It follows struggling musician Jack Malik who suddenly finds himself as the only person who remembers the Beatles and becomes famous for performing their songs.

Jack Barth had been struggling to sell screenplays for decades. He conceived the story when it occurred to him that if Star Wars had not been created and he conceived it, he would not be able to sell it. In Barth's script, a "meditation on professional disappointment", Jack did not find success with the Beatles songs. Barth left the project, and Richard Curtis was subequently brought in to rewrite it, so he decided to make it a romantic comedy instead. When Boyle signed to direct, he informed the surviving members and widows of the Beatles about the film and received a reply he described as "lovely" from drummer Ringo Starr.

The film received a warm response from critics, but was much more successful with audiences. Thanks to a killer premise and efficient marketing campaign, the film grossed $154 million worldwide, making it Boyle's second highest grossing film.

But the film's impact didn't stop there.

Ana de Armas was announced to join the film, and she even filmed her scenes. Her role was a new love interest for Jack, and she is seen in the trailers. Her scenes were cut as test audiences felt it made Jack less sympathetic. As she was on some trailers, this led to a $5 million lawsuit when two fans claimed they were "duped into renting the [$3.99] movie because she [de Armas] was in the trailer". U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson allowed the class-action lawsuit to proceed in December 2022, stating that "At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie." Wilson later dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the "injury is self-inflicted" and thus no standing to sue. The two men settled with Universal over court fees by April 2024.

• Budget: $26,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $73,286,650.

• Worldwide gross: $154,608,856.

Other Projects

Boyle has also worked on some British shows, directing a few episodes. He also directed Trust, an FX miniseries about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. And recently, he directed Pistol, a miniseries focused on the Sex Pistols.

He was attached to direct No Time to Die, Daniel Craig's final film as James Bond. But shortly before filming started, Boyle exited the film over creative differences. He wanted the film to focus more on Bond's childhood, which was disapproved by the producers, and he also struggled in convincing them over his take in the character's death. He was subsequently replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

The Future

After so many years of development hell and delays, it's finally happening: Boyle is set to direct 28 Years Later. It will be the first part in a planned trilogy, distributed by Sony and each film costing $75 million. Alex Garland will return to write the script for the whole trilogy, and Boyle will direct the first part (with Nia DaCosta directing the second film). Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes will star in the first film, with Cillian Murphy also expressing interest in returning.

MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

Across those 13 films, he has made $1,075,513,378 worldwide. That's $82,731,798 per film.

The Verdict

Despite some bombs, Boyle has proved to be a very reliable and versatile director at the box office. Even his bombs have found success in home media and streaming (otherwise we wouldn't get a 28 Years Later trilogy). By far, one of Britain's most iconic directors. Nearly all of his films carry fantastic soundtracks as well. No bomb can stop him, and we gotta be thankful for that.

Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the

The next director will be Wes Craven. A horror legend.

I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Richard Donner. A director with so much range.

This is the schedule for the following four:

Who should be next after Donner? That's up to you.