Film director Danny Boyle wants 'sunset' Olympics opener

Movie director Danny Boyle has demanded that the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics be delayed until sun set.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who is masterminding the London 2012 grand opening ceremony, has said that the event should be pushed back so the fireworks can be viewed as night falls.

The move threatens to play havoc with other carefully made preparations for the Games, the Daily Mail reports.

The Olympic clock, which has already failed once in its countdown to the 2012 spectacular, was timed to reach zero at 7.30pm — the current start time for the ceremony — on Friday, July 27, next year.

Publicity, ticketing and travel plans are also based on the time.

But Boyle, 54, whose other films include Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, told organisers that his "epic and intimate" show will lose its impact unless it is delayed until after sunset at 8:55pm.
 
His delay raises the prospect of more than a million people — including the queen, who will be 86, and the duke of Edinburgh, who will be 91 — finding their way home through central London well past midnight.

With 481 days to go until the Games, the organizers may have to pulp thousands of brochures, which have been printed with a 7:30pm start, and revise information given to ticket applicants, while extending travel services.