According to Robert Carlyle, talks are underway about a Trainspotting spinoff series based upon Irvine Welsh’s 2016 novel The Blade Artist, which continues the story of Francis Begbie following the events of Trainspotting and its sequel Porno.
“Irvine and myself have been chatting quite a lot recently with a couple of excellent producers in London about [continuing the Trainspotting story],” Carlyle tells NME. “As you know there was another book called The Blade Artist which is just entirely about Begbie and his mad story. It’s still in its early moments but it’s looking pretty good that this will happen eventually. It’s such a massive story – it’s all Los Angeles back and forth to Edinburgh – and it’s difficult to do all that in an hour and a half! Especially if you want to keep the basis of that book pure.”
As Carlyle states, The Blade Artist follows a now-reformed Begbie living in California under the name Jim Francis, who is forced to return to Scotland following the murder of his son. The potential series would see Carlyle reprising his role from Trainspotting and the 2017 follow-up T2 Trainspotting, with the actor stating that the adaptation is currently being envisioned as a six-episode limited series.
UPDATE: Deadline is now confirming that The Blade Artist is now officially in development under Buccaneer Media, which is currently in post-production on an adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Crime for streamer Britbox. Carlyle and Welsh are both executive producing alongside Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart of Buccaneer.
