Danny Boyle says Trainspotting sequel “will happen”

Danny Boyle has spoken out about the possibility of making a movie sequel to Trainspotting, revealing that “it will happen, I think”.

A book sequel to his break-out 1996 hit Trainspotting already exists - Porno, written by Irvine Welsh - and has long been rumoured to be making its way to the big screen.

But only now is Boyle confirming that it could become a possibility, hopefully with many of Trainspotting’s original cast all returning.

“It will happen, I think,” he tells Cinematical. “I mean, we’ll approach them all again about it, but it will depend on what place they’re all at.

“We have a very strong idea that it would be a wonderful thing to reapproach, to do again, when they have aged clearly into a mid-life kind of crisis, basically. They’re not quite there yet, I don’t think.”

Porno is set some years after Trainspotting, and features all the main characters from that earlier story. Clearly, Boyle is waiting for Ewan McGregor, Kelly McDonald et al to reach the right age to realistically make a sequel.

Boyle, however, agrees that the source material for the sequel isn’t quite as good as the source material for Trainspotting, though he remains hopeful that with a little tweaking it could become brilliant.

“Porno is not a great book in the way that Trainspotting, the original novel, is genuinely a masterpiece, I think, as a piece of writing. But we have been doing some work on it, and it’s got potential, yeah, for sure. And when the moment’s right, I think we will approach it.”

Stars who met on set

Ahh, Hollywood romances. The cynics among us may say it helps when a film’s leading co-stars have punters guessing whether their on-screen chemistry spilled over into the trailer on the way out. But aside from putting bums on seats, a rumoured romance can help with pesky gay gossip, and make the most forgettable middle-aged actress suddenly seem appealing again.
But we’re not always cynical, so here are our favourite Hollywood hook-ups that lasted longer than Jennifer Aniston and her latest co-star.

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth – The Last Song (2010)

Young love can be so touching to witness, but really no one wants their first love broadcast for everyone to scrutinise, do they? Miley Cyrus clearly couldn’t help it when she fell for unknown Australian actor Liam Hemsworth in this year’s teen romance, ‘The Last Song’. The pair gushed about each other during press conferences and interviews, with Miley happily reporting she’d fallen in love with Liam to anyone who’d listen. Liam consequently catapulted from Hollywood obscurity (he’s a ‘Neighbours’ alumnus) to instant fame (OK, maybe we are being a little cynical).

That was 2010, where are they now? Well rumour has it the love birds are going through a rough patch. Liam was papped recently in the arms of another, and within days the incriminating picture was broadcast on every entertainment site and TV show in America. Looks like the young lovers have sung their last song together.

Carey Mulligan and Shia LaBeouf – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
The pint-sized duo met on the set of Oliver Stone’s second ‘Wall Street’ film which will be released in the UK at the end of September. Carey has shot to fame after her stint in ‘An Education’ which won her Oscar attention and instant celebrity status with a Hollywood boyfriend to boot.

That was 2009, where are they now? Refreshingly both young stars are fairly private and although they don’t make front page tabloid news, they are still together.

Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson – Nowhere Boy (2009)

There were two camps of people who voiced their opinion when director Sam Taylor-Wood got it together with her leading lad Aaron Johnson, 23 years her junior, on the set of her BAFTA nominated film ‘Nowhere Boy’. One camp were pro the 42-year-old doing it for the divorced single women, while the less liberal camp felt she’d taken advantage of her teenage star, and were not happy when the pair quickly fell pregnant. And public opinion nose-dived further when he awkwardly discussed taking care of Sam’s kids with school-run duties, on what became known as one of the worst-ever Jonathan Ross chat show interviews.

That was 2009, where are they now? Despite the furore over babies and age-gaps, the pair are very much still together with baby girl Wylda Rae born in July this year, the third child for Sam, and first for Aaron.

Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron – High School Musical 1,2,3 (2006-2008)

Are they, aren’t they? It was all we could talk about when the ‘HSM’ bandwagon was in full swing a couple of years ago. It seemed like a match made in high school heaven - after all, they were two young Hollywood kids thrust into superstardom after their Disney TV movie hit the big time, surprising everyone. It really couldn’t have been any more perfect, especially since Efron was being hounded with rumours about his sexuality.
That was 2008, where are they now? Do we care? A new teen franchise obsession came along and spawned a fresher, edgier are they/aren’t they conundrum in the form of ‘Twilight’s’ Kristen Stewart and her vampire boyfriend Robert Pattinson. So frankly we don’t care, but if you must know, yes they’re still very happy after returning from a holiday together in Hawaii.

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal – Rendition (2007)

We cried for days when Ryan Phillippe did the dirty on his beautiful wife Reese Witherspoon and hooked up with his young, blonde ‘Stop-Loss’ co-star Abbie Cornish. Somehow Reese pulled it together and took everyone’s breath away at the 2007 Golden Globes ceremony, with the now-infamous canary-yellow cocktail dress. The sweet Southern girl single-handedly made a fringe cool again and everyone gawped in awe and simultaneously forgot who Ryan what’s-his-name was forever more. Enter the handsome, credible and younger actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and the Reese restoration period was complete. Even Ryan what’s-his-name couldn’t deny it made sense, and gave the couple his blessing.

That was 2007, where are they now? It pains us to say, but this seemingly picture-perfect pairing are no longer an item. Boo! It was all going so well with Reese’s kids receiving ‘Dark Knight’ set goodies from Jake’s sister Maggie, but alas in December last year the pair admitted they had parted company amicably.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt – Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

Nearly everyone with a remote interest in entertainment and film knows how this one went down, and that’s just embarrassing… for Jen. What seemed like a brilliant idea by producers at the time, to put together the biggest (and sexiest) male and female actors, backfired somewhat when the on-screen chemistry spilled over into real life, despite Brad already being one half of America’s favourite couple. The pair denied anything happened on set, but in 2008 Jennifer Aniston broke her silence with one simple line in an edition of Vogue, “What Angelina did was uncool,” which pretty much said it all.
That was 2005, where are they now? Those five words were sent to bitch-slap all over Ms Jolie, but it didn’t bring the Ange down, she’s still with Brad and their brood of six kids, but are they really happy? The pair dodge break-up rumours every week if you believe the tabloid magazines.

Sienna Miller and Jude Law – Alfie (2004)

Jude Law’s love life has a habit of filling tabloid columns and his relationship ups and downs with Sienna Miller have been no different. The insanely attractive couple first met while filming ‘Alfie’ in 2004 when Sienna was 23 and Jude was 32 with three children by wife Sadie Frost. Cue Sienna backlash, but despite the odds the couple stuck together and became engaged to marry until Nanny-gate in 2005 saw him publicly condemned for cheating on the gorgeous Sienna with his children’s nanny.

That was 2004, where are they now? The pair reunited in December 2009 for a holiday with Jude’s family, and officially announced their togetherness in May this year. But Jude really is never far from a scandal, and this year saw the birth of his fourth child after a short relationship. Despite all this the couple who make perfect sense in the looks department are rumoured to be marrying before the year is out.

Courteney Cox and David Arquette – Scream (1996)

Who knew the set of a slasher movie could produce the right environment for love to flourish? Well it certainly proved to work for these two who have since married, had a child and filmed a further three ‘Scream’ movies together, the latest of which is currently being made. The pair actually first met when David guest-starred on an episode of Courteney’s TV show ‘Friends’ just before ‘Scream’ was released.

That was 1996, where are they now? Believe it or not, this is one working Hollywood couple that have made it past the ten-year mark, although rumour has it with a fair share of turbulence. We’ll wait to see what the chemistry is like between Dewey and Gale in ‘Scream 4’ next year.

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise – Days of Thunder (1990)

It was a fast-track wedding when these two Hollywood heavyweights met while filming ‘Days of Thunder’ in 1990. On Christmas Eve of the same year they walked down the aisle in Colorado and adopted children Isabella and Connor within five years of marriage. The pair went on to make sexual thriller ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ in 1999 fuelling public interest in their relationship and sex life, but split soon after the film was released, just after their 10-year wedding anniversary.

That was 1990, where are they now? Tom filed for divorce in February 2001 and went on to date Penelope Cruz and Katie Holmes (who he later married). Nicole continued to proclaim her love for Tom but ultimately went on to marry country singer Keith Urban in 2006, and the couple have a baby daughter together.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell – Swing Shift (1983)

Here’s a Hollywood love story to warm the hearts of the coldest cynic. The pair first met while filming ‘The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band’ in 1968, but at the time Goldie was on the verge of marrying her first husband. Skip ahead two divorces and two children for Goldie, and one divorce and one child for Kurt, and the couple met again on the set of the 1983 film ‘Swing Shift’ and the rest is history.

That was 1983, where are they now? The couple have one son together and as far as we can tell have been happy ever since, with Goldie’s famous daughter Kate Hudson speaking publicly about calling Kurt her dad.

Dreamworks Animated Movies Seeing Several Sequels

We all know that Hollywood is a business - nay, a machine, and that sequels are a regular thing. The pursuit of art is often pushed aside for the pursuit of dollar signs. Still, the latest sequel plans for Dreamworks Animation would make even the most money-hungry Hollywood producer blush.
Let's start small. Madagascar came out in 2005 and saw a follow-up in 2008's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Madagascar 3 is scheduled for release on May 18, 2012, and it will leave the story open for a fourth film to come and tie everything up. What happened to good ole trilogies?

Next up we have Kung Fu Panda, which I thought was surprisingly decent. We already know that a sequel is on the way, scheduled for release on May 27, 2011. But that won't be the end of the series, not by a long shot, as current plans call for four more films, giving us six films in total.

Finally we have How to Train Your Dragon, which was a fantastic little gem and well-deserving of a sequel. It's getting one, too, with a tentative date set somewhere in 2013. How to Train Your Dragon is the most vaguely planned out so far, and the idea is being thrown around that there could be as many as eight chapters. This matches the number of books in Cressida Cowell's series, of which How to Train Your Dragon is the first. Doing as many films as there are books would make sense, had the first film not deviated so much from the source material, somewhat becoming its own thing.

Wow, just wow. I understand the need to plan ahead, and I love CGI films, but I don't these cows will survive all this milkin

First Pirates of the Caribbean 4 footage online

The first footage from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has been revealed.

 

US TV show Entertainment Tonight had a set visit, and revealed some exclusive footage ahead of the release of the official trailer, which is due to be unveiled mid-December.

 

The footage doesn't give too much away (there's a lot of repetitive guff from the presenters), but what we do see is intriguing.

 

For starters, there's the first decent glimpse of Penelope Cruz as Angelica, and we get a look at Ian McShane as Blackbeard.

 

A carriage-hopping scene looks like it harks back to the old-fashioned fun of the first outing, and, as ever, Johnny Depp looks like he's having a ball as Jack Sparrow.

 

In related news, Hitfix are reporting that installments 5 and 6 in the mega-franchise are due to shoot back to back. Apparently Disney are very happy with the job that incumbent director Rob Marshall has done, and are telling the cast and crew to set aside time for the huge double follow-up.

 

Let's hope they don't jump the gun and make the same mistakes they made with sequels 2 and 3.

Is 'Red Riding Hood' the next 'Twilight'?

Supernatural elements, a brooding love triangle in between lustful glances and swooping quick-cut shots of woodland scenery – how desperate is 'Red Riding Hood' to capitalise on the success of 'Twilight'?

The teaser trailer of the forthcoming horror film, which is loosely based on the famous fairytale, opens with two lovers bemoaning their fateful romance in a forest, with sun flitting in through the trees and pained looks at each other. It's a near-perfect recreation of the now pretty iconic Bella and Edward scene.

Catherine Hardwicke directed both the 2008 breakthrough ‘Twilight’ hit and now 'Red Riding Hood', so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. It seems the director, who also made 'Thirteen' in 2003, has found a blueprint that works, and it sticking stubbornly to it.

There's nothing wrong with the film's bosses wanting to appeal to the same fan base (the film's poster omits Hardwicke's name in favour of ‘From the director of 'Twilight'), but is it a bit too (Twi-)hard?

Still, just because it looks similar it doesn't mean guaranteed success. Chris Columbus' 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief' had obvious similarities to the 'Harry Potter' franchise (of which he directed the first two), but flopped at the box office.