Cillian Murphy has broken his silence on 28 Years Later, the third instalment in the post-apocalyptic horror series.
The follow-up to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later was announced last month, with director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland teaming up again.
Murphy, who played Jim in the first film from 2002, didn’t return for 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, but revealed to Variety that he would gladly reprise his role for the next instalment.
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“I can’t give much more at this point,” he began. “But I’ve always said I would love to be involved because that movie changed everything for me – I have great affection for it and for those guys, [Alex and Danny]. I never watch my own films, except that one.
“It’s always on around Halloween and during the pandemic people were constantly sending me clips. And I’ve shown it to my kids. It’s really stood up, even though it’s 22 years old now, so I’m really thrilled that we’ll get the band back together to make this one.”
Murphy’s role in 28 Days Later saw his character wake from coma to discover that the world was now ravaged by a highly contagious disease, leading to the breakdown of civilised society.
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A new film in the series had long been mooted before its official announcement, with Boyle revealing in 2022 that Garland had previously written a script for a project titled 28 Months Later.
“It feels like a very good time actually. It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered ‘Bang, this script!’ which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we’ll see… who knows?” he teased.
28 Years Later is currently in development.
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
