Ewan McGregor on Trainspotting Sequel: He and Boyle are Not Friends, Sequel Will Not Happen
Filed under: Drama, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Remakes and Sequels
Though director Danny Boyle has been running all over town talking up an eventual Trainspotting sequel, Ewan McGregor reportedly squashed rumors of his own involvement in the film while appearing on the French show L'hebdo Cinéma, which was later picked up by the magazine version of Canal Plus. Since we don't have the original story to link to, take the following with a huge grain of salt. Apparently, McGregor told the show that he "definitely" doesn't want to be a part of the sequel and wasn't fond of the book (Porno) it's based on. He also confirmed his relationship with Boyle is still in ruins following a falling out the two had over a movie role.
The movie in question is The Beach, and McGregor is still pretty pissed off that Boyle (and the powers that be) gave the lead role to Leonardo DiCaprio after McGregor had starred in Boyle's three previous films (Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, Shallow Grave). Since DiCaprio was coming off Titanic, it was a no-brainer to cast him over McGregor, even though the latter actor probably would have helped produce a better film. Part of the reason why the book is so great is due to the main character being British; once DiCaprio signed on, that aspect was thrown out the window. Though we don't have any firm quotes from McGregor on the subject, Boyle is certainly open to patching things up with his one-time mate. On McGregor's involvement in a possible Trainspotting sequel, Boyle recently said: "He's one of those guys who can do it, who has got that magic thing that people love. You don't come across it very often." Aww, isn't it about time these two guys hug it out?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-26-2007 @ 6:52PM
Hairy Knuckles said...
Don't know if this is true or not but I heard McGregor found out he lost the lead to DiCaprio after he arrived on the set for The Beach. Now if that's true then I can understand why McGregor would be pissed and why there would be no sequel to Trainspotting with him in it. Too bad though. Would've like to see them do a movie together again.
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3-27-2007 @ 5:34PM
automag5 said...
The Beach was a great book. I read it about a year before the movie came out and was looking forward to the film adaptation. Unfortunately the main role was so miscast with Leonardo the film ended up far from great. I can just imagine how good it would have been with Mcgregor. It's really too bad Boyle went with the popular choice instead of the right one.
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3-27-2007 @ 12:07PM
Eilis said...
The interview can be seen online from this link:
http://www.canalplus.fr/pid500.htm
(then go to videos - his is the second one) It should be available on the site for about a week. It's in French though, and since I'm at work, I haven't been able to watch it, but I'll check tonight to see what he says exactly about the whole thing. I'll post again if it has been reported incorrectly
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3-27-2007 @ 1:35PM
Eilis said...
Ok, I'm sorry to "spam" the board, but I've just been watching the interview I've mentioned above.
Basically, the entry was accurate: Ewan specifically says that he doesn't think he would be part to a sequel to the movie Trainspotting because he's read the book it would be based on, and he didn't think it was as good and the story is too similar to the original; he also added that he would hate to do a bad sequel to a movie like Trainspotting.
As for Danny Boyle, he said that he had probably never worked as well with any other director than with Danny Boyle, and that they had such a good relationship that he would have done just about anything for him. He even compares it at one point to a love story. He declined to explain why they had a fallout, but said that he was hoping they would patch things up eventually.
And that's it on that very subject. He talks notably about his experience working on Star Wars and with Woody Allen.
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