Some months ago I caught a special screening of Trainspotting, courtesy of Nu Metro and TCM’s short-lived (but awesome) classic movie screenings. It was a fanatical hoot. The audience were clearly divided into two groups: those who had seen this film and those who hadn’t.
How could I tell? When the scene with Spud and the bedsheet appeared, you could tell who knew what was coming. And, yes, it is still a fantastic movie – one of the best ever released.
It’s also been a long time since 1996 – next year will mark the film’s 20th anniversary, so it seems that Danny Boyle wants to follow up on the film that made his name.
He confirmed as much with a recent quote:
“All the four main actors want to come back and do it,” said Boyle. “Now it is only a matter of getting all their schedules together which is complicated by two of them doing American TV series.”
I’m guessing he’s referring to Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Johnny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner, but presuming they are talking to Kelly McDonald as well. All of them are pretty busy – McGregor is still a regular A-list actor, McDonald recently finished with Boardwalk Empire and Lee Miller is doing a fab job as Sherlock Holmes in Elementary. Bremner’s career is a bit more under the radar, but he’s never stopped working either. Ditto for Carlyle, who like Miller is currently on American TV.
Before we get upset, there is a basis for this. In 2002 Irvine Welsh released Porno, the sequel novel to Trainspotting. It is slightly different – a truer novel, whereas Trainspotting is a collection of short stories.
The sequel is already listed on IMDB as Porno, so that’s as good an indication as any.
But can lightning strike twice? Of the four adaptations from Welsh’s works, only Trainspotting is really worth seeing. Boyle also had a lot to work with previously, given the many short stories. I can’t remember the book too well, but as I recall some critical bits were only in the film. It might be time to dust that one off again.
I can’t help but feel the sheer cult status of Trainspotting and the popularity of its stars will end up hurting Porno, turning it into a bloated star vehicle or killed by hype beforehand. Nobody knew what to expect when Trainspotting was released, but with Porno we’ll all have our ideas already.
Besides, what movie can ever trump this scene?
Last Updated: September 8, 2015
