Cillian Murphy has been confirmed to return for 28 Years Later by Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman.
Speaking to Deadline, the movie executive said Murphy would be back for the first film in the zombie franchise’s new trilogy and vaguely teased the actor would be involved “in a surprising way and in a way that grows.”
Rothman also praised the film as director Danny Boyle “at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver.”
Further addressing 28 Years Later, Rothman emphasized the movie is “not in any way a literal sequel.”
Earlier this year, Murphy was similarly opaque about his potential role in 28 Years Later during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, simply saying, “Watch this space.”
Murphy starred in 2002’s 28 Days Later as a bicycle courier named Jim, who wakes up from a coma to find the streets of London empty after the accidental release of a highly contagious virus that turned people into zombies. A sequel titled 28 Weeks Later was released in 2007 with neither original director Boyle nor screenwriter Alex Garland involved.
Now, Boyle and Garland have reunited to launch the new trilogy. Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jodie Comer are set to star in 28 Years Later, with Murphy also serving as executive producer. It reportedly will be shot back-to-back with the next installment (directed by Candyman’s Nia DaCosta) and is set to open in theaters on June 20th, 2025.
See where 28 Days Later lands on our list of every Danny Boyle film ranked from worst to best.