Are all the actors ready to do that? Do you think they’ll all be back onboard?
It’s very difficult to know because I don’t know what position they’ll be in when they hit their 40s. They’re all still out there. They all look about the same still. Actors kind of stay the same looking for years and years and years and then suddenly they age, or we hope they will like all of us do (laughing), and that will be the moment to use them. We don’t want to make them up or anything. They’ve got to feel like they’re genuinely… It’s like looking at the Rolling Stones. When you look back at footage of them performing as young men and then you see what they’re like now, it’s sort of about making a film about that, really. People have such a love for the characters in “Trainspotting,” there is still a connection with them. We think people will be fascinated to see how they turn out later on.
You’ve mentioned the budget a few times now. How much does the budget weigh on you when you’re given a project?
The reality is that it doesn’t matter how successful you are, if you take $50 million of someone’s money, they are going to want something in return – quite understandably. Say I borrowed a lot of money off you, you wouldn’t just say, “There you go. Thanks very much. See you in a year.” (Laughing) You’d want to keep an eye on what’s happening to it. I’ve always felt a big responsibility about the amount of money you take. If you take less, you are freer. It’s easier in a way, although it’s physically more difficult. Your life isn’t quite as comfortable but you’re a lot more of a free agent, really. It’s obvious, but it’s true as well. It’s something that’s easy to forget when you take a lot of money. The people want that money back and so the film has to tick boxes at certain levels. Whereas when you’re lower down, there’s less boxes to tick.
So is the sci-fi film you’re doing going to be done with a smaller budget?
(Laughing) Well, having said that, the sci-fi movie’s quite expensive. They’re not cheap to make. I mean, it’s cheap in terms of mainstream movies but it’s about 20… It’s somewhere between at the moment – we’re arguing about it at the moment – it’s somewhere between 20 and 25 million pounds. So that’s about 40 – 45 million dollars. So it’s a much bigger movie than “Millions.” But that’s because it’s set in space, really, and to create space is expensive.
Are the financiers making you sign up a ‘star’?
That’s what we’re talking about right at this moment. That’s one of the boxes that we’re talking about – should it be ticked or not?
Which way are you leaning?
Ahhh…. I can’t quite say at the moment (laughing). I’d reveal too much of my hand at the moment on that.
