I want to make a musical: Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen is keen to make a musical after tiring of creating dark, complex dramas like Shame and 12 Years A Slave.

Director Steve McQueen says he is keen to make a musical after tiring of making dark dramas. (AAP)

The director has won acclaim for his emotionally-charged films and his 12 Years a Slave is a favourite to pick up the Best Picture prize at the Oscars next month, but the Brit admits he's had enough of all the tensions that come with hard-hitting movies.

He tells Rolling Stone: "I want to make a musical next. I'm not kidding.

"Having made Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave, I don't want to put myself through that kind of pain again. Those films feel like a trilogy. I was angry. I was f***ing angry. And now I'm happy: I did it, and all the anger came out in the end."