Oscar-winning Irish director Danny Boyle will oversee the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Boyle, who won an Academy Award for his film “Slumdog Millionaire”, has been introduced as the artistic director for the opening ceremony to be held on July 27, 2012.

His new role was announced in front of the new 80,000-seat stadium in east London, which will host the opening.

The prolific director’s family hails from Ballinasloe, County Galway, on his mother’s side. His other films include “Trainspotting, “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine”.

Speaking about his new role he said “It's a fantastic responsibility…When they offered us the job, they said, `Do you want to think about it?' I said, `No, I want to do it.’”

"It's not going to be like Beijing in terms of this overwhelming scale," said Boyle.

The Beijing 2008 Olympics opening ceremony will certainly be a hard act to follow. The event was directed by Chinese movie director Zhang Yimou and it pulled in an audience of 1 billion people.

Hollywood director, Stephen Daldry, will be the executive producer for the event. Daldry’s films include “Billy Elliot”, “The Reader” and “The Hours.”

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizing committee said the ceremony would focus on the theme of “a games for our times.”
The opening will include a parade of 10,000 athletes from 205 nations.