Though “Slumdog Millionaire” director and now South-Asian enthusiast, Danny Boyle has optioned the rights to Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” a narrative nonfiction socio-political travelogue and memoir about the people of Mumbai written by Suketu Mehta, and already hired ‘Slumdog’ scribe Simon Beaufoy to adapt the book for the screen, it appears the project won’t be the first film from his new 3-picture deal with Fox Searchlight.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Boyle at the Shanghai film festival where he is heading up the jury and although he wouldn’t specify what the next project was be, the trade says, “Boyle said that [‘Maximum City’] will not be first up.” However, it sounds like he might direct it. “I’m looking forward to going back to Bombay, what a great place for a thriller, it has so many elements,” he said (we’ve speculated that he might just produce or executive produce, but maybe he just needs a one-movie break before heading back to India).
Whatever the case may be, it sounds like the Oscar-winner still has life in perspective. “I was lucky to have a success. And I continue to aim to be ambitious, to promise myself ‘don’t be careful,’ and to enjoy a spirit of recklessness.” There’s also talk that Boyle is interested in the story of Aron Ralston, the American mountain climber who made headlines in 2003 when he was forced to amputate part of his arm when it became pinned under a boulder in a hiking accident, but THR doesn’t mention it.
India may not like the sordid stories that show the country in a distorted light, but leave the pretty stories to Bollywood. Danny Boyle will do a good job, but he needs to also do the right thing.