London 2012: Isles of Wonder theme for Olympic ceremony

The show's artistic director, Danny Boyle, said the 'Isles of Wonder' ceremony was inspired by The Tempest.

Six months before the performance kicks off London 2012, the Oscar winner said it would be about a land recovering from its industrial legacy, BBC News reports.

One billion people are expected to watch the opening ceremony on 27 July.

Billy Elliot director Steven Daldry, London 2012's executive director of ceremonies, said the task of putting on "the greatest shows on earth" - albeit with a budget of £81m - equated to the task to producing 165 West End musicals at the same time.

"They [the Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies] will represent one journey to the end of the Paralympics, looking at who we are, who we were and who we would wish to be," he said.

'Be not afeard'

Boyle, who is best known for directing Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, said the Isles of Wonder theme captured the essence of Britain.

 Chinese film director Zhang Yimou had £65m for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Games

He added that the stadium's 27-tonne bell was being cast on Friday at London's Whitechapel Foundry - where 13.5-tonne Big Ben was cast in 1856 - and would be inscribed with a quote from The Tempest's Caliban: "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises".

The bell would hang at one end of the stadium, and Boyle said he wanted people to hear it "for hundreds of years".

"We'll be celebrating the whole of the country... there are so many Isles of Wonder," he said.

With £27m to spend on the opening ceremony - far less than the £65m given to Chinese film director Zhang Yimou for the Beijing 2008 spectacular - Boyle said he would be taking his lead from previous Olympics.

"You're standing on shoulders of giants - you cannot but live in the shadow of your predecessors," he said.

He described Beijing's opening ceremony as "extraordinarily, eye-wateringly spectacular" and that of Athens 2004 as "incredibly beautiful". But Boyle said he would be most honoured if his spectacle was compared to the opening of Sydney 2000 - "a wonderful people's Games".

A full dress rehearsal will be held for a capacity crowd of 80,000 in the Olympic Stadium, which will be fitted with a million-watt sound system.

Details also at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16747032