Cast lines up for taste of Ecstasy

But whereas Trainspotting, which launched actor Ewan McGregor to fame, dealt with huge quantities of heroin, violence, death and doomed relationships, Ecstasy tells the story of a dealer who turns his back on drugs.

And while the title refers to the substance that fuelled the rave scene of the 1990s, the main character, Lloyd, finds true ecstasy when he rejects artificial stimulants and falls in love with Heather, a social worker from Dunfermline.

The movie will be shot in locations across Scotland including Princes Street and Calton Hill in Edinburgh, famous backdrops from Trainspotting, as well as Glasgow and Paisley.

Although the director approached several Trainspotting actors, including McGregor, to appear again, they were all wary of starring in another Welsh-inspired film because of the global success of the original novel.

Sir Sean Connery and Sir Billy Connolly also turned down parts, but another, as yet unnamed, British star is being lined up for the key male role. Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, and Clive Owen have both been linked with the part.

The lead females will be glamorous Canadian actresses Lisa Ray and Erica Durance while Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, stars of the Scottish sitcom Still Game, will play policemen. Welsh himself will have a cameo role.

Director Rob Heydon, whose background is in music videos, is hoping to tap into the energy, style and attitude that made Welsh's debut novel an international cinema hit but insists Ecstasy could be Trainspotting for "grown-ups".

"Lots of reasons attracted me to the project," said Toronto-based Heydon. "They included the potential to tell a great story, to entertain people, to show people reaching ecstasy from various avenues, not just pills.

"I met with Irvine at the Edinburgh Festival. We discussed the story and how I loved the character and the setting and tone, but the story seems like 'people meet up, people party, people recover' - not much plot. The love story had to be restructured."

Welsh was not involved in writing the final screenplay, but he has given the project his blessing. "I've kept it at arm's length due to other commitments," he said. "I'm in Italy and Spain promoting my book."

Ecstasy has older characters and, arguably, a more mature attitude to drugs and life. Like Trainspotting, the new film will use only certain episodes from the book and it will introduce new ones involving gnomes, fairies and the prospect of Kiernan in a tutu.

Despite failing to secure Connery - he was told the legend was now "playing golf full-time" - Heydon has signed up an impressive list of Scottish actors, including Tony Curran, who has attracted rave notices for his performance in Red Road, Billy Boyd, Bill Paterson and Gary Lewis.

Kiernan, best known for playing a pensioner on the sitcom Still Game with Hemphill, said: "We are well chuffed to be part of this group of people.

"Irvine Welsh's reputation precedes him, and Greg and I are both big fans of his writing. When we discovered there was something on the go we were only too pleased to be asked to do it.

"We are the coppers, the filth, the pigs. We're getting to be a double act again and we're well happy about that."

However, he did admit that he had still not read the original book. "I haven't read Ecstasy... nor have I tried it," he quipped.

Heydon worked with several writers to develop the characters of Lloyd and Heather. In a homage to the famous opening sequence in Trainspotting, Lloyd and his friend Nukes will be seen as youths in a shoplifting scene.

In another new scene, Lloyd hallucinates after taking drugs and sees gnomes and fairies, one of which seemingly turns into a policeman. "I don't know if I'm going to be the unfortunate one in the tutu or not," said Kiernan.

That is one detail Heydon is happy to confirm. "Lloyd hallucinates a fairy who turns out to be Ford Kiernan," he said.

There are comparatively few Scottish actresses in the film, however. Heather's best friend, Marie, will be played by another Canadian, Durance, who is Lois Lane on the Superman TV series Smallville. The South African-born Hollyoaks actress Elize du Toit and Londoner Romola Garai have smaller roles.

Trainspotting was a major international hit, grossing more than 12m in British cinemas and $16m in North America, and boosting the careers of McGregor, Robert Carlyle and most of the actors and film-makers involved.

The only other feature film based on Welsh's books is The Acid House, which began as a short and was expanded with the addition of two other stories. It is the only cinema film for which Welsh wrote the script, though his script for Wedding Belles, a drama about four women friends, started shooting in Edinburgh last week for Channel 4.

Lost in translation

IRVINE Welsh's book Trainspotting has sold more than a million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

Most translators opted to keep the original English-language title, one of the few exceptions being the Russians, who thought that the original name would be too baffling and opted for Na Uglye, or On The Corner, instead.

American readers were given a glossary at the back of the US edition to save them struggling with some of the Edinburgh street language.

Internationally, the film version of the book has grossed more than 35m.