Danny Boyle came into the Empire office yesterday for a chat about his much-praised, utterly lovely Slumdog Millionaire, and our keen-eyed readers took the chance to quiz him on a few upcoming projects to which his name has been attached. While the transcript of the webchat is now online here, we've pulled out the highlights for those of you in a hurry.
First of all, there's Judge Dredd. While Boyle's name has not been explicitly attached to the second attempt at 2000AD's flagship character, the fact that his production company DNA got hold of the rights and started movement on a new version last summer had led to a wealth of internet rumours about his involvement. But don't go holding your breath for Danny Boyle's Dredd: "Where has this come from? Someone asked me about Judge Dredd the other day! [Once we remind him that DNA has the rights] Well... ha! I hated the last version of it; I can't imagine the next one will be any better."
And there's more bad news: Boyle was once attached to Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy (Truckers, Diggers and Wings), but that interesting project has now been shelved. "It's fallen apart. Frank Cotrell Boyce (Millions) and I were going to do it for DreamWorks but sadly no longer. Sorry about that – wonderful novel(s)."
And then the one that everyone wanted an answer to: what about Irving Welsh's sequel to Trainspotting, Porno? Would Boyle be back for that? "Just waiting for the original actors to age. Help them if you can. Take them out drinking – get them away from the spas and those moisturisers!"
Boyle also revealed that he had recently been asked to do a remake of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and that he thought it was time to do a film with a woman as the central character. For more from him, head to the full transcript for more.