Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh has told Glasgowist that the sequel to the greatest Scottish movie of all time will film in Glasgow, alongside locations in Edinburgh and Bathgate.
Danny Boyle returns to direct Trainspotting 2, the follow up to his 1996 smash hit movie and we now know it will feature scenes shot in Glasgow.
We were curious whether the crew would come back to Glasgow after Danny Boyle spoke about filming in Edinburgh but didn’t mention the west coast. We asked novelist Irvine Welsh to confirm location plans.
Both of Boyle’s breakout movies, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, were set in Edinburgh but mostly filmed in Glasgow.
For Trainspotting’s production, the memorable opening scene was the only view of real Edinburgh as Mark Renton, played by Ewan McGregor sprinted down Princes Street to the Calton Street Bridge.
The majority of the interior shots for the movie were filmed at the disused Wills cigarette factory on Alexandra Parade.
Other scenes were shot at the Firhill Health Complex, Hopehill Road, North Kelvin and Rouken Glen Park.
The cafe where Renton and Spud shared a milkshake in the movie was Cafe Jaconelli on Maryhill Road – Trainspotting actor Robert Carlyle still occasionally visits there when he’s in town.
Speaking to Glasgowist, Welsh confirmed more Glasgow scenes, explaining:
“TS2 will be filmed all over the central belt, basically anywhere we can find location wise.
“Interiors [will be filmed] in Bathgate where our sound stage is, a lot of exteriors in Glasgow (as most crew live in Glasgow area) and also Edinburgh to give it the sense of place.
“We’ll probably do quite a bit more [in Edinburgh] than we did in the first movie as we have more money (i.e. studio cash from Sony) and aren’t operating with the same financial constraints, but it’s still a pain transporting crew around and putting them up in hotels – they work better if they can work from home.
“So have no fear, Glasgow will be well represented.”
Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle will all be filming for Trainspotting 2 in May and June this year, the 20th anniversary of the first movie. It will be a quick shoot compared to other big studio productions as Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller only have a short amount of time away from their respective TV shows Once Upon A Time and Elementary.
The movie only emerged as Danny Boyle’s next project after an improvement in his relationship with Ewan McGregor. The pair famously fell out when Boyle dropped McGregor from his adaptation of The Beach and replaced him with Leonardo Di Caprio – a decision he suggested was forced upon him by the studio. Now the gang are all signed up and ready to go with Trainspotting 2 expected in cinemas later this year.
Director Danny Boyle recently told Humans of Edinburgh: “We’re up in Scotland filming Trainspotting 2 just now.
“I think what I love most about what I do is the variety, and being able to do something new every day. I get to meet such amazing people all the time.
“I think everyone’s fear is doing something a robot can do, and getting stuck doing something repetitive.
“I feel very fortunate and grateful to be able to make films, and to be able to always have a choice in what I do.
“Coming back to Edinburgh has actually been really fascinating, since filming the first Trainspotting. Edinburgh has changed dramatically.
“You can see the gentrification massively in the city.”
The script for the sequel has been written by John Hodges who adapted the best selling novel Trainspotting for the original movie.
Meanwhile, Irvine Welsh continues to expand the Trainspotting literary universe with new book The Blade Artist, which takes up the story of Trainspotting’s principal bampot Francis Begbie.
Just before the film of the sequel begins shooting in the city, Irvine Welsh will be in Glasgow next week to discuss the new novel.
The book sees a different Begbie emerge, a man who seems to have found himself, working as a sculptor in California but his dark past isn’t buried very deep and a trip home for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew starts to go very bad, very quickly.
This ultra-violent but curiously redemptive new novel is described as both elegant and electrifying.
Irvine Welsh in conversation for the Aye Write festival takes place at the Royal Concert Hall on 5th April.
Follow Irvine Welsh on Twitter.
Here’s a video of Irvine talking to Glasgow’s own Bobby Gillespie.