Director Danny Boyle says he's 'not sure' British are great filmmakers

Director Danny Boyle has apparently admitted that he is “not sure” the British are great filmmakers.

The 66-year-old – who scooped the best director Oscar for 2008’s massive hit Slumdog Millionaire – said he thinks that Brits excel at theatre and pop music but possibly not movies.

According to the Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential column, he made the comment during a recent talk at the British Film Institute (BFI).

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“It’s a terrible thing to say at the home of British film but I am not sure we are great filmmakers, to be absolutely honest,” he was quoted as saying.

Boyle, who was born in Lancashire, went on: “As a nation, our two art forms are theatre, in a middle class sense, and pop music, because we are extraordinary at it.”

The director – whose other big films include Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and The Beach – gave the talk at BFI Southbank, where there was a 20th anniversary screening of his film 28 Days Later.

The horror film about a highly contagious virus that induces aggression being unleashed in Britain starred Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson and was unveiled in 2002.

A sequel called 28 Weeks Later was released five years later.

Fans have long wanted another instalment in the post-apocalyptic series and Boyle has hinted that a third film could follow.

Speaking to NME he said that a script had been written for an instalment entitled 28 Months Later.

“I’d be very tempted [to direct it],” he said.

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“It feels like a very good time actually. It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered ‘Bang, this script!’ which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we’ll see… who knows?”

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