2008 was quite a year for Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, and as he has been winding down from the roller coaster ride that was Slumdog Millionaire, he has also taken some time to carefully choose his next project. He had been attached to possibly direct a handful of projects including Johannesburg (a movie about South Africa based on the novel Ponte City by Norman Ohler), and Solomon Grundy (which has since been shelved due to its similarity to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). There had also been rumours about him possibly returning to direct another sequel to 28 Days Later. This week, Variety has confirmed that his next movie will be none of these. Instead, Boyle will helm a project called 127 Hours, about a mountain climber named Aron Ralston.

Ralston had a pretty harrowing experience during a climb in Utah in May, 2003, when his right arm was accidentally pinned under a boulder. After waiting for five days he was forced to amputate the limb with a dull knife, and then scaled a 65-foot sheer wall in order to seek rescue. Sounds a bit like a cross between Touching the Void and Castaway (minus Wilson). I’m assuming it will be a challenge to turn it into a film, however, since the main character will be completely immobile for a large chunk of the film. Boyle will reteam with Fox Searchlight, producer Christian Colson and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy for this one, while Ryan Gosling has been rumoured as a possible star. Thoughts?