Ewan McGregor is 'dead keen' to reprise his role in Trainspotting, the cult 1996 movie which propelled him in the direction of international fame.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Film Festival launch of his new film, The Last Days in the Desert, McGregor spoke of his rift with director Danny Boyle and said it was healed.

And he said the way was paved for the much-awaited sequel.

"I've met with Danny a few times recently and everything is great between us. We don't have a script yet, and nothing has been determined, but it would make sense for the sequel to be made in 2016, the 20th anniversary of the original."

Crieff-born McGregor, who now lives in Los Angeles, added he had been in Edinburgh in the past year and had made a point of visiting many of the areas where pivotal scenes from Trainspotting had been shot.

His latest film, The Last Days In The Desert, is an exploration of the Biblical account of Jesus returning from the 40 days he spent in the desert.

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia, it substitutes southern California for the plains outside Jerusalem and sees McGregor take on dual roles as Jesus and the devil.

McGregor said: "It's a film that I was very passionate about making and I had an extraordinary experience making this movie with Rodrigo Garcia. It's an artistic movie, it's got a slow pace, it's a beautiful film, I think.

"It (the EIFF) is a really perfect place to launch it from."

The actor admitted that playing such a role was "a little overwhelming".

He said: "In the process of coming to the role I did quite a lot of reading. I read quite a lot of contemporary books that had been written about Christ, which were less helpful in a way because they're trying to tell the story of who Jesus really was and maybe discount some of the Bible stories."

He went on: "It's not a Biblical film, it's not a film about Jesus. It's actually a film about fathers and sons, that's really what it is.

"Once I started concentrating more on that and concerning myself less about the sort of worries of what people's expectations are, what people might expect to see, and just started focusing on a man who's having difficulty communicating with his father then it became easier and maybe more truthful, I hope."