Danny Boyle feared '127 Hours' walkouts

Danny Boyle has admitted that the he feared people would walk out of his new film 127 Hours during its arm amputation scene.

The film stars James Franco as Aron Ralston, an American climber who was forced to cut off his own arm with a dull knife to free himself from underneath a boulder. Some audience members in the US have reportedly been fainting during the amputation sequence.

Speaking to Deadline about the reaction 127 Hours has provoked, Boyle said: "My worry, funny enough, was that we'd get people walking out at that moment. It's a tribute to James that, even though people don't find that scene easy, you can see people making an effort to stick it out."

Boyle said that cinema-goers passing out "doesn't sound like much of a recommendation for seeing the film".

He continued: "You're on a journey, and the things that are going on are tough. It is important that people know they've been through something, and that there is a reward attached to that.

"That reward is a profound sense of well-being. It's not the thrill sense of well-being you got from watching Slumdog Millionaire, with a feel-good ending and a dance song. This is a more serious, proper sense of well-being that you deserve after going through that with James."

127 Hours is playing in US cinemas now and opens in the UK on January 7.