FILM director Danny Boyle has told how he almost pulled out of the Olympic Opening Ceremony because he was “outraged” by the decision to site missile-launchers on tower blocks in East London.

The former Thornleigh Salesian College pupil, pictured, had said he thought it was “morally wrong” because the Olympics is a “festival of peace”.

Danny, from Radcliffe, also told a national newspaper he was prepared to use a double to play the Queen for the whole of the James Bond sketch, and was “astonished” when he heard from Buckingham Palace that she would like to take part in person.

He said the Queen had the “instincts of a performer”, adding: “She showed great instinct again when she decided no one in her family should know about the film, so that it was as much a surprise and delight for them as for the nation.”

Danny also talked about his decision to turn down a knighthood, saying he had been “lucky” but that it “doesn’t make me feel I’m better than anyone”.

Danny, who used to work as an usher at the Octagon, will release his next film the drama/ thriller Trance, starring James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassel, on March 27.