‘Slumdog’ director to make movie about man who cut off arm to escape boulder in Utah

‘Slumdog’ director making film about hiker’s story

SALT LAKE CITY — The award-winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire” says he plans to make a movie about the mountaineer renowned for amputating his own arm after it was pinned by a half-ton boulder while he was hiking alone in Utah.

Danny Boyle says production on the movie “127 Hours” will take place in Utah over 42 days in March and April. He says some of the filming will be done in Bluejohn Canyon, where Aron Ralston’s ordeal took place.

Ralston cut off his right arm with a dull blade in 2003 after he’d be pinned for several days at the bottom of the remote canyon, near Moab. He later wrote a book about the experience, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” which inspired the movie. The Coloradan also gives motivational speeches.

A Utah state panel has approved a tax credit incentive of up to $2.8 million for the filming of his story.

Information from: Deseret News, www.deseretnews.com