The first 24 hours after April Fool’s Day are the most difficult, because there is so much crap to sort through in these cat tubes and it’s hard to tell what is real and what was some awful joke story written by someone who turned to his cat and said, “See? I told you I could fool strangers.” But it seems that this news about director Danny Boyle wanting to make a Trainspotting sequel is pretty legit. You know, because he talked about it.
Boyle’s target date for Trainspotting 2: Dead Baby is Still Dead (title pending) is 2016, and the original was released in 1996. That means 20 years will have passed between the original and the sequel, so why even bother? You know, other than to make me incredibly depressed about where my life has taken me.
“We have got an idea that we are working on. We will approach all the actors to play the same parts. Twenty years has past,” Boyle says. “What has happened to them? Are they in the same town? Have they gotten out of the town? Have they married? Have they lost? What has happened to them? Because it’s like [Michael Apted’s] “Seven Up!” and “21 Up!” [films]. We see ourselves in those stories. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Boyle adds, “We all answer to the call of time and it’s nice to see that played out for us in a very specific way. It gives a reason for a sequel, other than just cashing in on the appeal of the first, but it has a connection with people. Because, extraordinarily, of all the films I’ve done, that’s the one where everyone remembers all the characters. Even though it’s a small movie in a way.” (Via Hitfix)
I think a fun idea would be if everyone returns to play the old characters, except they’re based on their actual lives right now. Like Sick Boy is the star of a hit CBS series, Renton’s a huge movie star and even Spud and Begbie have done well for themselves. And maybe we find out Tommy faked his death or something, which led to him becoming a doctor on a really awful primetime soap opera. Either way, they’re all still pissed at Renton for stealing their money, but they get over it quickly because they’re all rich now. So they just do a bunch of heroin and the end.