Robert Carlyle will be returning as the notorious Francis Begbie in the Trainspotting TV sequel, The Blade Artist. The news was exclusively confirmed by “Deadline.”
Carlyle will also serve as an executive producer on the project which will see him reprise the role more than 25 years after making his appearance in the Danny Boyle film. The series is being developed by Buccaneer Media as a six-parter and it will feature Carlyle as a reformed version of the character.
The Blade Artist is inspired by the novel of the same name that was published in 2016. The story is set in Los Angeles and Edinburgh 20 years after the events of the 1993 book “Trainspotting” which was eventually adapted into a cult favorite film three years after its release. The film followed a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film include an exploration of the urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh. Trainspotting was released to high critical praise, carrying a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes while John Hodge received a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for his script. The film also stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, and Kelly Macdonald. A sequel, T2 Trainspotting, was released in 2017.
In The Blade Artist, Begbie is now known as Jim Francis, a reformed character who believes he has found the perfect life but when he returns to Scotland for the funeral of a murdered son he hardly knows, he is confronted with a past he can barely recall. Soon he discovers you can take the boy out of Edinburgh, but you can’t take Edinburgh out of the boy.
Are YOU excited that Robert Carlyle is reprising his Trainspotting role in The Blade Artist?