Since we first learned of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's plans for 28 Years Later back in January, news on the movie — the first in a proposed sequel trilogy to Brit zombie horror duology 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later — and the franchise's future has come thick and fast. Last month alone, we shared that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have joined 28 Years Later's cast, and that Candyman director Nia DaCosta is in talks to helm the second part of the new trilogy. And now we know at last that newly-minted Oppenheimer Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, who was already aboard as an executive producer, will be making a return in front of the camera too.
In an interview with Deadline, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman was asked directly whether Murphy — who starred in Boyle's first film as bike courier-turned-Rage virus survivor Jim — would be back for 28 Years Later. "Yes," Rothman confirmed, before cryptically adding, "but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way." Exactly what that surprising way might be is anybody's guess, but considering the fact that it took a directorial change of heart on Boyle's part to stop Murphy's Jim being killed off at the end of 28 Days Later, any sort of role reprisal from Murphy — whose character we last saw signaling for help from a plane flying overhead — is a real bonus.
In terms of what 28 Years Later may end up looking like, few clues abound as of yet. In the same Deadline interview that revealed Murphy's return, Rothman also teased that the movie is "not in any way a literal sequel" to its predecessors. But given that 28 Weeks Later ended with the Rage virus reaching France as hordes of infected race towards the Eiffel Tower, we reckon it's safe to say that things probably aren't looking too great for humanity almost three decades further down the line. Pesky zombies!
28 Years Later, written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, is set to release in cinemas on 20 June, 2025.