Long the subject of rumours, whispers and a place on Danny Boyle’s big To Do list, one of the more anticipated follow-ups to a classic film has taken a big step closer to reality as Sony’s TriStar arm has picked up the Trainspotting sequel.
Boyle and a big chunk of the original cast, including Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle are all aboard to return, with writer John Hodge creating an original script that evolves the idea mooted in Irvine Welsh’s novel sequel Porno, and catches up with the main characters to see what they’re up to now. “It’s been 20 years since we met these characters and John Hodge’s screenplay brilliantly explores what's happened to them – and to us – in the intervening years. We are grateful to Tom and Hannah for their support and we can’t wait to get going,” Boyle said in a statement as part of the announcement; Tom being current Sony boss Rothman, who shepherded many of Boyle’s big Fox Searchlight films, and Hannah as in Minghella, who is president of TriStar.
During his press rounds for Steve Jobs, Boyle has been talking up a plan to make the new Trainspotting next summer, and this is the clearest indication yet that it’ll finally come to pass. When the cameras roll is not specified, but we’d guess this coming summer, when both Miller and Carlyle should have time off from their respective American TV series.