It was the sequel that never said die and now, almost two decades since Danny Boyle’s rich cocktail of black comedy and drug abuse debuted, Trainspotting 2 is teetering on the edge of production.
Welcoming back all the core players from the critically lauded original, Boyle’s follow-up will take cues from Irvine Welsh’s novel sequel Porno, imagining Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie and Nikki ten years after their impish escapades on the streets of Edinburgh.
Returning as former heroin addict Renton – choose your future, choose life etc. – is Ewan McGregor, who spoke with Collider about the prolonged process of tackling Welsh’s hard-hitting drama.
“It’s been 10 years since Irvine Welsh wrote the sequel novel, “Porno”, so it’s been a long time, a lot of speculation. For me, too! 10 years ago, I didn’t want to do it; I wasn’t ready to do it. Also, there was no script.”
But it seems as though the wait has been worth it, with McGregor even going so far as to say that the current script for Trainspotting 2 is “really, really, really good.”
“The script only arrived very recently, which was really, really, really good. I think, if that had not happened, none of us would be into it. I think we’re all sort of somewhat protective of what Trainspotting means to people, and what it means to us. None of us want to make a poor sequel to it. So had we not been presented with the most extraordinary script, which we were, I think we wouldn’t be making the sequel. But because we were, we are.
Due to enter production in May, Trainspotting 2 will likely be aligned with an early 2017 release. Before that, look for McGregor to appear in Don Cheadle’s musical passion project, Miles Ahead.
