Trainspotting Sequel May Soon Be Spotted in a Theater Near You

Timothy Sexton
Timothy Sexton, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Apr 13, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
Not too long ago I wrote an article suggesting three movies that were ripe for a sequel. One of those movies was Trainspotting. Trainspotting is a brilliant film from the UK about heroin addicts and ranks in the top five films of the 90s, in my opinion. Despite the comment left by AC Content Producer Benscudder that a sequel would be impossible because those characters would probably all be dead by now, word comes that a sequel may very well be on the way. Apparently, in fact, director Danny Boyle has been eager to film the novel Porno which is a sequel to the novel Trainspotting, but could not convince actor Ewan McGregor to reprise his role as Renton. You know how these things are, you can never tell what's the truth and what's rumor, but apparently the snag is related either to the fact that McGregor was not particularly inspired by Porno, or else he was just getting even with Danny Boyle for casting Leonard DiCaprio in the film The Beach instead of him. (Boyle has since apologized.) If I was Ewan McGregor, I'd be plenty pissed off about losing a role to DiCaprio, too. Kind of like casting Ronald Reagan in Casablanca instead of Humphrey Bogart. Sorry, but I just remain unconvinced of DiCaprio's Oscar-worthy talent.

At any rate, the sequel to Trainspotting has been on hold primarily because all those involved were convinced that it couldn't be made with another actor stepping into McGregor's shoes. (Hopefully, none of the studio suits dared to suggest replacing him with Leonardo DiCaprio!) All the other Trainspotting actors, including Robert Carlyle, have apparently more than eager to step back into the shoes of the characters that launched their careers. And, for whatever the reason, it now appears that Ewan McGregor is okay with the idea of a Trainspotting sequel as well. The plot of Porno, the novel, involves the characters from Trainspotting nine years later. McGregor's character Renton owns a nightclub in Amsterdam and grudgingly agrees to finance Sick Boy's latest adventure, a porno film. As for the volcanically paranoid Begbie, played to such frightening perfection by Robert Carlyle, he has been in prison for manslaughter and is receiving anonymous packages of gay porno. Finding who is responsible for this sick joke quickly becomes his obsession.

Ewan McGregor's complaint about Porno is that it doesn't really add anything new to the characters. He's being somewhat disingenuous, I think. After all, none of these losers are what you'd call particularly evolutionary creatures. Drug addicts aren't really known for their ability to Choose Life, after all.

Published by Timothy Sexton - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment

Timothy Sexton was named this site's very first Writer of the Year. Today he has several columns on Yahoo Movies and a weekly column on The Simpsons on Yahoo TV. He has published over 8,000 articles coverin...   View profile

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  • azindn 4/16/2007

    Ewan McGregor's Renton could be a mirror of what he has become - middle age, middle class, and predictable. After all, Renton's closing monologue in Trainspotting lays out exactly what he will stand for after robbing his mates. Revenge by the other three would be a better film.

  • Jack Oceano 4/16/2007

    The book Porno was magnificent. I've been waiting for this to happen. After "Stay", "The Island", and those awful "Star Wars" films, I would think McGregor would be aching to reprise his role as Mark Renton. C'mon, Rents!

  • Carol Gilbert 4/13/2007

    Cool.

  • Jack McGoughey 4/13/2007

    Oh man, that would be sweet. Hope they can get McGregor, or it wouldn't be so sweet.

  • Veronika Fevers 4/13/2007

    This would be worth seeing if in fcat it does happen. As for Mr. McGregor- I think Star Wars changed his opinion as to which roles he should pursue.

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