'The Beach' Prequel Series Is In Development, Danny Boyle Says

After Danny Boyle returned to one of his classic films with T2: Trainspotting, it seems the director has gotten a taste for sequels. Or prequels, in the case of his 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio-starring drama The Beach, which Boyle says is currently being worked into a prequel television series.

In an interview with The Independent, Boyle revealed that Amy Seimetz, the actor-writer-director behind the Steven Soderbergh series The Girlfriend Experience, is currently developing a The Beach preqeul series, which Boyle called "a bit of a headfuck." Boyle describes:

"The Beach may come back. [Seimetz] has taken The Beach and made a prequel for television. It's the same character but it's set now, so 20 years later—it's a bit of a headfuck. It's intriguing when you see it. I've read the first two scripts."

The series will take place in modern day, but will follow the same character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a traveler named Richard who discovers and brings about the collapse of a beautiful utopia in a secluded island in Thailand.

The 2000 film was based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland, who would go on to collaborate several times with Boyle, including on 28 Days Later, which Boyle has also suggested is getting another sequel. While The Beach wasn't much of a critical or commercial success, it has made the real-life beach where it was filmed in Ko Phi Phi Leh a tourist attraction. Perhaps with a second go-around as a prequel series, following the community's creation, Seimetz could find more success with the story. Here's the film's synopsis for a refresher:

The desire to find something real – to connect with something or someone – is what drives Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young American backpacker who arrives in Thailand with adventure on his mind. Etienne (Guillaume Canet) and Francoise (Virginie Ledoyen) join him on an adventure to "The Beach," a mystical paradise. However, this paradise is less than perfect.