---

Junkies reunited as sequel gets go-ahead
MICHAEL HOWIE AND KEVIN SCHOFIELD

ITS portrayal of the lives of heroin addicts in Scotland's capital was the unlikely smash that put the country on the movie-making map and brought international fame and fortune to its home-grown cast.

Trainspotting became one of the greatest British films ever made, ushering in a new era of gritty Scottish films that have generated millions of pounds for the economy.

Now, more than ten years on from its release, Danny Boyle, the film's director, has confirmed that Renton, Begbie, Spud and co will return to the silver screen in a follow-up to Trainspotting, revealing that he has been given the rights to the much-talked-about sequel.

Boyle has also given the clearest indication yet that the original film's leading star, Ewan McGregor, will be reunited with fellow actors Robert Carlyle, Ewen Bremner and co, claiming that "all the actors" have agreed to reprise their unforgettable roles.

Boyle has long talked about his desire to bring Porno, Irvine Welsh's follow-up to the cult novel that spawned Trainspotting, to the silver screen. However, the project has long been shrouded in doubt, with McGregor reportedly insisting that he does not want to be involved.

The news has been described as "fantastic" by film critics and Scottish Screen, which says there is a massive public appetite for a follow-up.

It is widely held among film critics that Porno cannot be made without McGregor, and public comments from the Crieff-born actor have seemingly killed off the possibility of a follow-up. As recently as last week the star was reported to have said: "They can go ahead and do it if they want, but it will be without me on board."

He said he was "very proud" of Trainspotting and insisted he "wouldn't do anything to damage it".

"I read Porno and I didn't think it was as good as Trainspotting. There was nothing new in it," he added.

McGregor was furious with Boyle when he chose Leonardo DiCaprio to star as the traveller on a Thai adventure in The Beach, a decision the director has apologised for.

But speaking this week at a preview of his latest movie, the science-fiction thriller Sunshine, Boyle reiterated plans to bring Porno to the cinema and indicated that McGregor was on board.

"Irvine has given me the rights to make the film. He could have made a lot of money selling it to one of the big production companies, but to his credit he has resisted that," said Boyle.

He added: "I just want to wait until the actors are in their 40s. I could make it now, but the problem is they all look the same. I want them to look ravaged by the passing of time".

McGregor could not be contacted to comment yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Screen described Boyle's indication that the original cast have agreed to take part as "fantastic news".

She said: "We would welcome the making of Porno in Scotland, with the original crew in place, with open arms. There's a huge desire amongst the public to see that happen, although we have yet to be approached about it.

"Trainspotting has had a massive impact since it was first shown more than ten years ago. People are still talking about it. It's still regarded as one of the greatest British films of all time, let alone Scottish films.

"It has played a huge role in raising the profile of Scotland across the world. It showed really for the first time a contemporary side of Scotland that people were not used to."

The spokeswoman said it had inspired a host of other "gritty" films shot in Scotland, such as Young Adam and Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself, films which have raised investment in Scotland's movie business to between £15 million and £20 million a year.

The Scotsman's film critic, Alistair Harkness, believes there is always a danger that bringing much-loved characters back to life can backfire, but reckons Begbie and the others will be in safe hands.

He said: "I think it's always intriguing to revisit characters to show how they've turned out over time, especially when those characters have made such a big impression on you.

"A film like Before Sunset, Richard Linklater's sequel to his slacker romance Before Sunrise, was fantastic, because the characters played by Ethan Hawke and July Delpy were so true to themselves that the sequel felt naturalistic and certainly wasn't just being made to cash in on previous success. Other times it doesn't work quite so well.

"I don't think that would be the case with Boyle. I think he's certainly one of Britain's best directors, and still as vital as he was when he made Trainspotting.

"I don't think anyone would want to risk tarnishing the memory of what they created - one of the best British films ever."

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Celebrated British film "Trainspotting" may be getting a sequel.

Released in 1996, the Oscar-nominated "Trainspotting" is an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name. Directed by Danny Boyle, the film starred Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor, and Jonny Lee Miller, among others.

In an interview with The Playlist this week, Boyle hinted that it may be time for a "Trainspotting" sequel, adapting Welsh's follow-up novel, "Porno." The Playlist reports that Boyle is eyeing the film, which will hopefully include the original cast, for 2016. Boyle also told the publication that John Hodge, who penned the script for "Trainspotting," is writing the screenplay for the sequel.

"This has been a long time coming," Boyle told The Playlist. "There's always been this long term plan for 'Trainspotting 2,' if John can produce a decent enough script, I don't think there will be any barriers to Ewan or any of the cast coming back. I think they'll wanna know that the parts are good so they don't feel like they are letting anyone down."

Boyle added, "The reason for doing it again is that people cherish the original, people remember it or have caught up with it if they never saw because they were younger. So you want to make sure you don't disappoint people. That will be the only criteria I think."

McGregor spoke about the possibility of a "Trainspotting" sequel last February, saying, "I was always a bit loathe to do it, because 'Trainspotting' is so important for me... It was such an amazing film that still stands up today. I think making a sequel to it is almost a dangerous thing to do. You don't want to damage the reputation of the original film if you make a lesser version... That said, it could be interesting because it's been so long, and ['Porno'] is set 10 years later."

UPDATE:
Welsh said in a statement to HuffPost Entertainment, "It's always been a vague intent to do this. There is a long-standing very good first draft of a script, written by John."

See Welsh's full statement, via email, below:

It's always been a vague intent to do this. There is a long-standing very good first draft of a script, written by John. Danny seems to have focused in on it as a proper project now, which is nice, but there are still a lot of issues to resolved. As the author of the sequel you want a script to remain as true to the spirit of the book and the characters as possible, but putting on my film head, I'd say we would have to play more fast and loose with the original text of Porno than on previous adaptations of my stuff.
I say this as I think things have moved on since "Porno" came out over ten years ago, and the story of a motley crew getting together to make a gonzo porn movie no longer seems that edgy or interesting on its own. Porn/erotica is now pretty passe in the '50 Shades era'. The second issue (which I think has already been resolved in the rough script) is to make Renton the central figure. In the book Sick Boy is the main character, and Renton is more peripheral. I think we have to come up with something around the 'porno' theme, but something that is really going excite the actors.

Because people love the characters and the actors who played them, it's tempting to get everybody back together, but while reunions are always fun, I'd rather not do it all unless everybody was vibing on the material. I have great affection for "Trainspotting" and I wouldn't want to trash that legacy for the sake of few quid in the bank. It would have to be a David Bowie rather than a Rolling Stones type of comeback. So it's nice news, but as always, it's down to the script, and about whether we can come up with something, which to mind, has to be at least as good as, in its own way, as "Trainspotting."

---

---

---

---

Updated with script information: “All the four main actors want to come back and do it,” the director tells Deadline’s Pete Hammond, who caught up with Boyle at the Telluride after-party for the “work-in-progress” screening of Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender in the title role. “Now it is only a matter of getting all their schedules together which is complicated by two of them doing American TV series,” Boyle says.

Prior to the first-ever public screening of Steve Jobs, Boyle received a Telluride Medallion for his body of work, clips of which included a certain vivid public toilet-diving scene from Trainspotting. The long-anticipated and much-speculated sequel would follow by at least 20 years the ground-breaking 1996 Miramax release of Channel 4’s account about the grimly, grittily entertaining misadventures of drug addicts in Edinburgh (but film was shot mostly in Glasgow). The original was written by John Hodge, based on Irvine Welsh’s novel.

Boyle also told Deadline that Hodge’s script for what they’re calling Trainspotting 2 is terrific, that the actors all want to do it and reiterated that it will be the director’s next film depending on the actors’ U.S. TV schedules. Hodge wrote the sequel script based on Welsh’s Porno, which was the author’s own sequel to his original Trainspotting novel. Hodge also wrote the screenplays for Boyle-directed movies A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach and Trance.

Stars of Trainspotting included Ewan McGregor (who told the Guardian in June that he was “up for” a sequel), Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd (whose character died in the original), Ewen Bremner and Kelly Macdonald. As for the pair of actors Boyle cited as working on U.S. TV shows, Miller plays Sherlock Holmes in Elementary on CBS, and Robert Carlyle, who said in July that a Trainspotting sequel is “closer than it’s ever been,” is a regular on ABC’s Once Upon A Time. Trainspotting cast members Kelly Macdonald appeared in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and McKidd appears on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

---

---

---

---

---