Irvine Welsh novel-based “Trainspotting 2” to hit U.S. theaters in February

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sony has dated “T2: Trainspotting” in the U.S. for Feb. 3 in select theaters with a wide release on Feb. 10, Variety reveals.

The sequel opens in the U.K. on Jan. 27. Shooting began in Edinburgh on Monday, May 16 with Danny Boyle, who also directed the original. Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle will reprise the roles of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie, respectively.

The sequel, based on characters created by Irvine Welsh, also reunites Boyle with screenwriter John Hodge and all of the principal cast of the 1996 film.

Producers are Andrew Macdonald, Boyle, Christian Colson and Bernie Bellew through Figment Films, Decibel Films and Cloud Eight Films. Film4 is also a production entity.

Sony said last year that it planned to release the film in 2017 to mark the 21st birthday of the original film.

Based on the novel of the same name by Welsh, the original Hodge screenplay received an Academy Award nomination. The story, set in the late ’80s, follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh.

The film was produced for $2 million and generated a worldwide gross of more than $70 million, launching the careers of McGregor, Carlyle and Boyle.

Welsh wrote a sequel novel called “Porno,” published in 2002 with the five main characters and Hodge wrote an original script for the sequel movie.

Film4 released a teaser trailer Monday, touting the U.K. release and featuring footage from the original and Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” the signature song of the first movie.