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It’s official folks – after months of whispers, Sony have confirmed that Cillian Murphy will be returning for 28 Years Later, the much-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.
While we already knew that Murphy would return in an executive producer capacity, Deadline’s new interview with Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman today confirms that the Oscar-winning actor will also be back in an acting role.
When asked if Murphy was returning for 28 Years Later – which we already know is the first in a new trilogy from Sony – Rothman teased:
Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way. This is Danny [Boyle] at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it.
Presumably, that means we’ll see Murphy back in the role as bicycle courier Jim, one of the sole survivors of the apocalypse-inducing ‘Rage’ virus seen in the first two movies.
While it’s entirely possible that we’ll see poor Jim succumb to the virus, Rothman’s use of “grows” here could be a hint that Jim will be sticking around for the entire three movie story…
Interestingly, Rothman says “It’s 28 Years Later, but not in any way a literal sequel” – and, given the crew behind the camera, we always expected this trilogy would go in a different direction than your standard cut and dry sequel.
In 28 Years Later, Murphy joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell, with Boyle directing from a script by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil War, 28 Days Later)
Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta is tapped to take on the second instalment, with no news yet on the third. Boyle and Garland are also producing, as are original producers Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. Bernie Bellew is also producing.
28 Years Later, nor its following sequels, does not yet have a release date. We’ll bring you updates as we get them.
