T2 Trainspotting Danny Boyle

In 2007, Danny Boyle 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 waiting until the original cast aged visibly enough to portray the characters again. "I want them to look ravaged by the passing of time," Boyle explained.[4] Having previously expressed doubts about a sequel,[5] Ewan McGregor said in a 2013 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."[6]

In March 2013, Boyle said the sequel would be only loosely based on Porno which he felt is "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.[7]

In May 2014, Welsh said that he had spent a week with Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and the creative team behind Trainspotting to discuss the sequel. Welsh said the meeting explored 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."[8] That November, Welsh said that McGregor and Boyle had resolved 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."[9]

In September 2015, Boyle stated his next film would be a sequel, tentatively titled Trainspotting 2.[10] Later that month Boyle revealed that a script for the sequel had been written, and that filming would take place between May and June 2016. He hoped to release the film by the end of that year to commemorate Trainspotting's 20th anniversary.[11]

While promoting Steve Jobs in November 2015, Boyle reiterated the hopes of beginning principal photography for the sequel in May and June 2016, and said that pre-production had begun in Edinburgh. Boyle also clarified that John Hodge wrote an original screenplay for the sequel, and that the film would not be a strict adaptation of Porno. An earlier script was reportedly written about 10 years prior, but was scrapped so that the original cast would agree to return for a film sequel. The working title for the sequel was T2.[12][13][14]

In November 2015, Robert Carlyle said he would return as Begbie. According to Carlyle, he and the other Trainspotting cast members had already read Hodge's script, which was set 20 years after the original. Carlyle praised Hodge's screenplay and said 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?'"[15]

In early December 2015, it was announced that Sony's TriStar Pictures had acquired worldwide rights to the film and that the original lead cast would return.[16]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 10 March 2016, in Edinburgh, according to Boyle.[17][18][19] Filming was previously scheduled to take place in May 2016.[19]

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack was released on 27 January 2017. It features Blondie, the Clash, Wolf Alice, High Contrast, the Prodigy, Queen, Run–D.M.C., Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Underworld, the Rubberbandits and Young Fathers.[20]