Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes have reportedly joined Cillian Murphy in 28 Years Later.
Back in January, it was reported that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland were in the midst of developing a sequel to 28 Days Later, 20 years on from the film’s original release.
According to the same report from The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Years Later will be directed by Boyle and written by Garland.
The same report also said Cillian Murphy was reported to return in the lead role for the new film after starring in the original when he was still a relatively unknown actor.
Speaking to NME in 2022 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 28 Days Later, Murphy and Boyle said that they had often spoken about a follow-up to their hit zombie flick. While Murphy said he’s now too old for it, Boyle revealed that Garland had written a script titled 28 Months Later a few years ago but nothing came of it.
Boyle said at the time: “I’d be very tempted [to direct it]. 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?”
It’s been reported that 28 Years Later will be a new trilogy for the franchise, with Boyle set to direct the first of the three films, while Garland writes all three. The budget for each film in the trilogy, per The Hollywood Reporter, is currently USD $75million.
The original film secured a sequel in 2007, 28 Weeks Later, though Boyle and Garland only executive-produced this project.