Danny Boyle to direct Trainspotting sequel

Plus: London band Bastille storms UK charts; Disney's Oz scores box office gold; Groening quashes Simpsons movie rumours; Taylor Swift cheers cancer patient.

Danny Boyle plans to direct a sequel to Trainspotting. Stuart Wilson / Getty Images

Danny Boyle has announced that he is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of his 1996 hit Trainspotting by directing a sequel in 2016. He says he thinks he can get the original cast – including the lead star Ewan McGregor – back on board. "I don't think there will be any barriers to Ewan or any of the cast returning," the director told Indiewire. "I think they'll wanna know that the parts are good, so they don't feel like they are letting anyone down." Boyle said "the only criteria" is to not disappoint fans of the original movie. This week, at the SXSW Film Festival, he unveiled footage from his new thriller Trance, starring James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson. – IANS

London band Bastille storms UK charts

The British rock band Bastille raced to the top of the charts this week with their debut album Bad Blood knocking off the Brit award winner Emeli Sandé from the top spot. Sandé came second with her album Our Version of Events. The Welsh band Stereophonics' album Graffiti on the Train came third, followed by Bruno Mars, with his Unorthodox Jukebox. Among singles, Justin Timberlake retained his top spot with Mirrors, followed by Bruno Mars's When I Was Your Man and Bastille's Pompeii in second and third, -respectively. – Reuters

Disney’s Oz scores box-office gold

Walt Disney Co's big-budget 3D movie Oz the Great and Powerful amassed US$80.3 million (Dh295m) in American and Canadian ticket sales, the biggest domestic debut of this year. The prequel, starring James Franco, added $70m in international markets. The movie stars Franco as a small-time magician who is whisked by a hot-air balloon to a magical land where he is mistaken for a wizard. Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz play the three witches the wizard encounters on his journey. Disney spent up to $100m on a marketing campaign that featured the cross-country tour of a bright blue, Oz-themed hot-air balloon. – Reuters

Groening: no new Simpsons movie

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening quashed rumours that a sequel to 2007's The Simpsons Movie is in the works. Speaking at a symposium at the University of California, Los Angeles, he said: "It took us four years [to make the movie] and it killed us." The longtime Simpsons producer and director David Silverman told reporters they might do the sequel in "maybe another 10, 15 years". – IANS

Taylor Swift cheers up cancer patient with visit

Taylor Swift paid a visit to a young cancer patient in Nebraska. The American singer was at the Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha on Saturday to see 10-year-old Lauren Hacker, who is a fifth-grader. The Omaha World-Herald reports the meeting was lobbied for on social media. Swift kicks off her worldwide tour tomorrow in Omaha for her latest album, Red. – AP

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