Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have all been confirmed to star in 28 Years Later, with Danny Boyle returning to direct after the 2002 original.
Civil War director Alex Garland will write the script for the upcoming film, the third part of the zombie horror trilogy, having also worked on 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007).
There is no indication on IMDB when the film could be released but it is likely to premiere before 2030, which would actually be 28 years later.
And there could be further films to come, with Deadline reporting that Candyman director Nia DaCosta will shoot a fourth film to continue the franchise with a fifth film also being confirmed. Both these additional films will be written by Garland.
Sony Pictures has put forward a $75m (£60m) budget for each film, according to the Guardian, which makes it a far cry from the original – where Cillian Murphy famously walked around a deserted London – which cost $8m (£6.4m).
In the original, Murphy played Jim, who woke up from a coma to find that the UK had fallen prey to a terrifying rage virus while he was out cold.
The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, starred Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba, and followed the efforts of Nato forces to create a safe zone in London – only for the virus to be reintroduced to it.
And, despite his high Hollywood status, don’t rule out Murphy’s absence from the upcoming film – which will presumably be set 28 years after the outbreak of the rage virus. Though in Boyle's first iteration of 28 Days Later, Jim died at the end, this scene was eventually deleted, paving the way for a future return.
“Every time I bump into Danny or Alex, I always mention it,” Murphy said in 2022 during a chat with NME. “It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old.”
“That’s great to hear,” he added later, when asked about the sequel by the Independent. “I didn’t know that – I would be there in a flash. I made two movies with both of those guys, and I would love to work with them again. Of course I’m there.”
There have been no further details about the plot or the roles that Comer, Fiennes or Taylor-Johnson will take.
