Danny Boyle promises Olympic fireworks

Oscar-winning film-maker Danny Boyle has promised fireworks at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012 after being bowled over by the capital's New Year's Eve display.

British director Boyle, who revealed he is in the early stages of planning for the showpiece ceremony, was blown away by last week's pyrotechnics at the London Eye and said that there was no doubt they would feature in the 2012 curtain-raiser.

"The fireworks at New Year's Eve were amazing weren't they? There was this big debate, should there be fireworks [at the opening ceremony] or not because they're not very green. I'm sure they will be [included] after New Year."

The 54-year-old, best known for directing Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, was picked to be the artistic director of the opening ceremony in June last year.

Boyle has the unenvious task of creating a show to rival the universally heralded opener to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Featuring more than 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and was reported to have cost over $100 million to produce.

The 127 Hours director said he wanted the event at London's 80,000 seater Olympic Stadium to be designed with the live spectators in mind, rather than television,

"I want to make it so the people in the stadium feel like they've been at something unique," Boyle added.