The long-awaited sequel to Trainspotting will start shooting next summer, director Danny Boyle has revealed. 

The Hollywood Reporter reports in a interview with the director that the British hit about drug addiction in Edinburgh could be released as early as 2016 should everything go smoothly and all the actors' schedules align. 

Boyle had previously said that the original four leads in the movie including actors Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner are interested in returning. 

He said: "They only get this little window off, so either you wait for the contract to run down, which could be as late as three years, or you kind of try and do it in this window. The actors were understandably worried about its reputation and not wanting to let people down or to just be cashing in. So actually the script, which John [Hodge] has written, has been put under a very fierce spotlight by everyone, and it's a good one."

The follow-up is to be based on Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting book sequel Porno. Boyle, however, said that the film will be "its own thing".

He said: "Everyone's attitude is that it'll be an honourable addition and an interesting addition to the original film.

"We're very positive that we believe it can happen and it's coming true."

He added: "We're doing it for less than $20 million, and that'll give us control of the film so we can make the film we want to make.

"Although we could have raised a lot more money for this, we didn't so we're trying to keep some sense like we kept the original."