Trainspotting sequel looks set to go ahead

THE long awaited sequel to the movie Trainspotting now looks set to go ahead with a release date mooted to come as early as 2016.

Rumours have surrounded the project for years but it always seemed to be a non-starter since Ewan McGregor - who plays lead character Renton in the first film - and director Danny Boyle had ceased discussions with each other over a long standing falling out.

Irvine Welsh, the Edinburgh author behind the best selling novel, confirmed that the pair have now patched up their differences, with “summit” meetings being held in Edinburgh between the two and other stars of the first film.

Welsh said: “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.”

McGregor reportedly wasn’t happy with Boyle after the director opted to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead role in his 2000 movie The Beach.

McGregor has since said about the rift: “It was an unfortunate situation which wasn’t handled well. I was very upset but time has gone by and we put to bed bad feelings.”

The movie is set to be a big screen adaption of Porno, the 2002 novel written by Welsh as a literary sequel to Trainspotting.