Turns out you'd also have to be a genius to make a workable movie about Leonardo DiCaprio running amok on a hidden island paradise. ''The Beach'' wasn't a total washout -- it grossed $140 million worldwide for 20th Century Fox -- but was still considered a disappointment (the last time DiCaprio got in the water, the movie made a billion bucks). Casting the ''Titanic'' actor, incidentally, was not Boyle's idea. ''[The studio] argued that with a budget of $50 million, we needed a big American star,'' the director explains. But McGregor, who had been Boyle's leading man since his very first feature, 1994's ''Shallow Grave,'' was furious anyway. ''We did behave badly towards Ewan,'' Boyle concedes. ''But I ran into him for the first time since 'The Beach' and we talked and it was really very nice.'' (Not nice enough: At this past Cannes film festival, McGregor told reporters that he was passing on Boyle's ''Trainspotting'' sequel.)
It's easy to see why Boyle made ''28 Days Later'' through his own production house (DNA Films) and filled it with mostly unknown actors. ''Danny has such a strong voice, he works best when he's in control,'' offers Naomie Harris, the unknown who plays Selena, one of the last uninfected humans left roaming around London in the film (along with Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, and Megan Burns). ''I think with the bigger movies, he had to listen to too many other voices. I don't think he liked that.''
Not that shooting ''28 Days Later'' was completely without headaches. Filming empty London streets was a logistical nightmare, even at five in the morning armed with handheld cameras. ''The police would stop traffic only for a few minutes,'' explains Andrew Macdonald, Boyle's longtime producing partner. ''So we had to plant people with cameras all over the place. Everybody had a camera. Even I had one.'' Then there was the heated debate over the film's title: American distributors in particular were worried that it might be mistaken for a sequel to the all-but-forgotten Sandra Bullock rehab comedy, ''28 Days.'' ''They wanted '27 Days Later,''' Boyle scoffs. '''33 Days Later.' Anything but 28.''
In the end, Boyle decided to ignore the Americans -- which may just be the smartest move he's made since ''Trainspotting.'' After all those mistakes, he's clearly learned the perils of trying to please Hollywood too much. And after ''28 Days Later,'' the big studios are likely to tempt him again (indeed, an Adam Sandler movie is already being dangled). For now, though, Boyle seems content sticking to environs closer to home, like the Liverpool location where he's currently shooting ''Millions.'' He describes it as a sweet little comedy-drama, warmer than his usual fare, with a modest budget and, again, no big stars. But it is filled with creatures far more unruly than any he's put on film before. ''They're impossible,'' Boyle complains. ''They get three hours of education a day, they get lunch, they get another hour off, then they go home straightaway. It takes forever to get anything done.''
Children. They're worse than zombies.
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