Tuesday
18Nov2008
Danny Boyle Talks 'Trainspotting,' '28 Days Later' Sequels
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 1:15PM
This past weekend,
Danny Boyle's
Slumdog Millionaire made $360,000 in only ten
theaters. That may not seem like a lot of cash, but consider this: Only four
movies made more than $10,000 per screen on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and
Quantum of Solace made $19,000. So, do the math: Ten theaters, $360,000.
But Slumdog Millionaire is not the only Danny Boyle film that has a lot of interest. For years, there has been plenty of talk that he might get the band back together and make a sequel to Trainspotting, based on the Irvine Welsh novel, Porno. And in the past few weeks, Boyle has even hinted at coming back for a third installment in the 28 Days Later franchise.
So we asked him about those projects specifically. Regarding Trainspotting, Boyle says he thinks everyone in the cast is finally in agreement on making the sequel...one day.
"Yes, it feels like it, yeah. It'll be interesting once you start contract negotiations and everything like that. There's only really one way to do it - we'd have to share everything between everybody. You just say, 'Listen, that's the deal. Everybody's in,' because we've all benefited beyond belief from the success of it. We've all had our careers shaped by it. So let's make one now, we'll all make it together, we'll all share it together, and let's see what we can do with it."
Answering a similar question during an audience Q & A session the night before our interview, Boyle said, jokingly, that one of the things holding up the sequel is that everyone in the cast still looks so young, and not ravaged by real life. So as soon as they stop moisturizing their faces before bed, they can get down to business.
But 28 Days/Weeks/Months Later seems to have more of Boyle's immediate interest. He directed the first film, a huge success back in 2003. The sequel wasn't quite as successful last year, but Boyle believes he's got a great concept for it and appears excited to pursue it.
"I didn't have very much to do with the second one. I helped pick the director and stuff like that and I did a little bit of second unit stuff for them, but I was [directing] Sunshine. So I wasn't really involved. And I remember watching it at the premiere with Bobby Carlyle, who's in it, of course, and we turned at the end - and you forget how pleasurable those experiences are because you're too anxious, too bored, whatever it is because you're so involved with something - and I thought, 'God, that was really enjoyable.'"And I've got a very strong idea for the third part, which is a bit different, actually. The only thing I'd say is that I'm not sure whether people will buy it. I don't know whether it ticks the franchise quite enough. It is connected, but it is quite different, as well."
I think they're both smart ideas, frankly. Porno, obviously, makes a ton of sense, and I think wrapping up a 28 trilogy is best left to Boyle rather than some guy on the rise who's only in it to get his name out there. Plus, it feels like it still needs a conclusion to me.
We'll have more of our interview with Danny Boyle this Friday at The Big Picture, plus our review of Slumdog Millionaire.
Reader Comments (1)
I can't believe that Danny Boyle is in danger of being relegated to the straight to DVD crowd! Then again, it is well within my latest belief that the great Indy directors of the 90's (like Boyle) have to make a choice if they want to survive in an ever tightening Hollywood landscape: Sell out or get out. Perhaps this is why he is contemplating sequels to his biggest hits...