T2: Trainspotting

T2: Trainspotting is an upcoming 2017 British black comedy crime drama film directed by Danny Boyle and written by John Hodge, based on the novel Porno and its characters created by Irvine Welsh. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle. It is expected to be released in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2017, in the United States on 3 February 2017, and worldwide on 10 February 2017.

The film is a sequel to 1996's Trainspotting, and features the original cast.

Premise

20 years after the previous film, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to Scotland to make amends with his friends, Daniel "Spud" Murphy (Ewen Bremner) and Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller), whilst avoiding the psychopathic Francis "Franco" Begbie (Robert Carlyle), who has recently been released from prison.^[2]

Cast

• Ewan McGregor as Mark "Rent Boy" Renton
• Ewen Bremner as Daniel "Spud" Murphy
• Jonny Lee Miller as Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson
• Robert Carlyle as Francis "Franco" Begbie
• Kelly Macdonald as Diane Coulston
• James Cosmo as Mr. Renton
• Shirley Henderson as Gail Houston
• Irvine Welsh as Mikey Forrester

Production

In January 2009, Danny Boyle had declared his wish to make a sequel to his 1996 film Trainspotting which would take place nine years after the original film, based on Irvine Welsh's sequel, Porno. He was reportedly waiting until the original actors themselves aged visibly enough to portray the same characters, ravaged by time; Boyle joked that the natural vanity of actors would make it a long wait. Ewan McGregor stated in an interview that he would return for a sequel, saying "I'm totally up for it. I'd be so chuffed to be back on set with everybody and I think it would be an extraordinary experience."^[3]

In March 2013, Boyle said he wanted to make a sequel that would be loosely based on Porno which he had described as "not a great book in the way that Trainspotting, the original novel, is genuinely a masterpiece". Boyle said that if the sequel were to happen, it would be for a 2016 release.^[4]

On 6 May 2014, during a BBC Radio interview with Richard Bacon, Welsh confirmed that he had spent a week with Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and the creative team behind Trainspotting to discuss the sequel. Welsh stated that the meeting was in order to "explore the story and script ideas. We're not interested in doing something that will trash the legacy of Trainspotting. ... We want to do something that's very fresh and contemporary."^[5] Welsh did not however confirm any kind of timeline for the film, unlike Boyle's comments about wanting the film to come out in 2016.

In a newspaper interview with The Scotsman on 17 November 2014, Welsh revealed that McGregor and Boyle had resolved their differences and had held meetings about the film, saying "I know Danny and Ewan are back in touch with each other again. There are others in the cast who've had a rocky road, but now also reconciled. With the Trainspotting sequel the attention is going to be even more intense this time round because the first was such a great movie—and Danny's such a colossus now. We're all protective of the Trainspotting legacy and we want to make a film that adds to that legacy and doesn’t take away from it."^[6]

On 7 September 2015, at the Telluride Film Festival, Boyle stated his next film would be a sequel, tentatively titled Trainspotting 2.^[7]

In a 27 September 2015 interview with ComingSoon.net, Boyle revealed that a script for the sequel had been written, and that filming would reportedly take place between May and June 2016, in the hopes of releasing the film within that same year to commemorate Trainspotting's 20th anniversary.^[8]

While promoting Steve Jobs in November 2015, Boyle reiterated the hopes of beginning principal photography for the sequel in May and June 2016, and has started pre-production in Edinburgh. Boyle also clarified that John Hodge wrote an original screenplay for the sequel, and will not be a strict adaptation of Porno. An earlier script was reportedly written about 10 years prior, but was scrapped and redone so that the original cast would agree to return for a film sequel. The working title for the sequel was T2.^[9][10][11]

In a November 2015 phone interview with NME, Robert Carlyle confirmed he would be returning for the sequel to play Begbie. According to Carlyle, he and other members of the Trainspotting cast had already read John Hodge's script, and it would take place 20 years (much like its intended 2016 release) after the original plot. Expecting to start filming in the middle of 2016, Carlyle praised Hodge's screenplay and hinted that T2 "is going to be quite emotional for people. Because the film sort of tells you to think about yourself. You are going to be thinking: 'Fuck. What have I done with my life?'"^[12]

In early December 2015, it was announced that Sony's TriStar Pictures had acquired worldwide rights to the film, and original lead cast would be returning which included Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, and Robert Carlyle. The film will be set 20 years after the events of the original movie.^[13]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 10 March 2016, in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to director Boyle.^[14][15][16] Filming was previously scheduled to take place in May 2016.^[16]

Release

T2 is slated to be released in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2017, followed by the United States on 3 March 2017, and worldwide on 10 February 2017.^[17][18] In November 2016, a trailer was released which garnered much excitement and optimism. Wolf Alice's "Silk" and Underworld's "Born Slippy" are featured in the trailer. This resulted in a huge increase in popularity of "Silk", with its listenership growing exponentially.

References

External links

• T2: Trainspotting at the Internet Movie Database