Ever since TRAINSPOTTING (1996) Irvine Welsh has been a hot commodity yet there has been set back after set back on adaptations of his work. PORNO, a sequel to TRAINSPOTTING, with Ewan McGregor’s character, set a decade later in the porn biz, has been the closest but with nothing being ready for the camera. Now FILTH is first passed the post with a director, producer and all Scottish cast on board.
In a recent interview with The Playlist, Welsh, also the producer, stated that James McAvoy (X-MEN FIRST CLASS) will play the lead in the corrupt cop, Bruce Robertson, James Bell (THE EAGLE) will be is side kick, Lennox and Alan Cumming (THE GOOD WIFE) will play McAvoy’s boss, Taol. John S. Baird (CASS) will directed.
Here’s the publisher, Vintage, synopsis of the book:
With the festive season almost upon him, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is winding down at work and gearing up socially – kicking off Christmas with a week of sex and drugs in Amsterdam. There are irritating flies in the ointment, though, including a missing wife, a nagging cocaine habit, a dramatic deterioration in his genital health, a string of increasingly demanding extra-marital affairs. The last thing he needs is a messy murder to solve. Still it will mean plenty of overtime, a chance to stitch up some collegues and finally clinch the promotion he craves. But as Bruce spirals through the lower reaches of degradation and evil, he encounters opposition – in the form of truth and ethical concience – from the most unexpected quarter of all: his anus. In Bruce Robertson, Welsh has created one of the most corrupt, misanthropic characters in contemporary fiction , and has writt en a dark, disturbing and very funny novel about sleaze, power, and the abuse of everything. At last, a novel that lives up to its name.
The character has been likened to that of Harvey Keitel/Nicolas Cage’s The Lieutenant in BAD LIEUTENANT, but Scottish. With this cast on board Welsh might be able to make a movie comeback, hopefully being able to re-create some of that magic behind TRAINSPOTTING.
