When Will 'Trainspotting 2' Be Released?

It's been almost 20 years since Danny Boyle's Trainspotting was released, so to say that it was surprising to hear about a sequel to the influential '90s classic would be an understatement. Though the Trainspotting sequel was confirmed by its director, Danny Boyle, back in September, it's still been hard to believe this project is really happening — until now. Trainspotting 2 will now be moving forward in production: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Sony label, Tri-Star, has been given rights to the film. But, when will Trainspotting 2 come out?

No official date has been given — which is only fair, considering the film hasn't started shooting yet. But with Tri-Star now behind the sequel, The Hollywood Reporter says that Boyle and company are aiming to shoot the movie in the spring of 2016 for a (hopeful) release in 2017. Not a bad turn around!

It seems that everyone on board is operating under the principle of 'if it aint broke, don't fix it,' which to be honest, I'm not mad about. With Danny Boyle all set to direct the project, the original gang is back as well. That is, of course, Ewan McGregor as Mark Renton, Ewen Bremmer as Spud, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy, and Robert Carlyle as Begbie. (Spoiler alert if you haven't seen the first film: Kevin McKidd’s character, Tommy, will not be in attendance.)

The man who penned the original script, John Hodge, will also be back — or more appropriately, has already been back. Hodge wrote the script for Trainspotting 2, which he loosely based on the source material's own sequel — a follow-up novel titled Porno. (As you might have already concluded, Porno will not be the title of Trainspotting's sequel.) Hodge's original script takes a look into the lives of the main cast, 20 years later, and so far, that's pretty much what we know about it. Well, that and what Roberty Caryle (Begbie) told NME back in September. That "it's one of the best scripts [he's] f*cking read." The hype? It's on.

The original film was adapted by Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel of the same name, and followed the lives of a group of heroin addict friends in '80s Edinburgh. The movie was lauded for its pragmatic and brutal exploration of addiction, as characters were seen dealing with all kinds of internal and external demons. For most of them, the film didn't end so well, making the idea of a sequel that much more compelling (and as one could argue, challenging). Boyle told THR, "It’s been 20 years since we met these characters and John Hodge’s screenplay brilliantly explores what’s happened to them — and to us — in the intervening years."

But how will 20 years of time look on this group of (not so young anymore) men? Will they have grown or stayed stagnant? Will they have chosen life? A family? Washing machines, cars, compact disc players, tin can openers?

I guess we'll have to wait until 2017 to find out.

Images: Miramax (3)