“Slumdog Millionaire” has jumped from underdog to front runner in the race for Oscar, after picking up the Directors Guild of America’s best directed feature film of 2008 honor last night. “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle accepted the award during the 61st Annual DGA Awards dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
The DGA award is considered one of the most reliable predictors of who will win the best director Academy Award. The first DGA Awards were handed out in 1948. Since then, only six times has the winner of the DGA Award been denied the Oscar for best director.
In taking home the DGA’s best director award, Boyle beat out David Fincher nominated for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Gus Van Sant “Milk,” Christopher Nolan “The Dark Knight,” and Ron Howard “Frost/Nixon.”
“Slumdog Millionaire” is the rags-to-riches story about a young man from the slums who gets a shot at winning a fortune on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” The film was produced on a shoestring budget of $15 million. It opened 12 weeks ago in the U.S. and so far “Slumdog Millionaire” has raked in around $67 million.
