Belated legacy sequels are still all the rage in Hollywood, and joining the ranks of this trend is “28 Years Later,” the long-overdue sequel to director Danny Boyle’s zombie/rage-virus thriller, “28 Days Later,” and its sequel “28 Weeks Later.”
While Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, who are reuniting for the first time in almost two decades, have teased a third film in the rage virus trilogy, one never materialized until just a few weeks ago when the surprise sequel was announced. But the question on everyone’s minds, really, especially as the actor’s career is having a peak renaissance moment, is whether Cillian Murphy, poised to win an Oscar for “Oppenheimer” will star.
READ MORE: Danny Boyle, Alex Garland Teaming for Sequel to Their Zombie Hit ’28 Days Later’
On a recent episode of Happy Sad Confused to discuss “Oppenheimer” and his whole career, Murphy wouldn’t say either way whether he’ll appear in the film but maybe gave a tiny tease in the positive direction.
“It’s for [Danny Boyle and Alex Garland] to speak about, I suppose, but I think it’s been brewing for a while,” he said. “The first movie was so important for me as an actor. I love working with those guys. Alex has an idea. And Danny directing is just huge. Watch this space.”
“Watch this space” does sound promising, but obviously, it’s not confirmation. That said, given the way legacy sequels seem to work this way, it won’t surprise us if Murphy shows up at least a little bit, maybe as some kind of patient zero figure with experience that turns up to guide others or share wisdom, perhaps in the way Jeff Goldblum turned up briefly in “Jurassic World” Fallen Kingdom.”
Garland and Boyle worked on several films early on in their career, which gave them their start, “The Beach,” “28 Days Later,” and “Sunshine.” But after that last film in 2007, they parted ways, with Garland pursuing his own filmmaking career instead. And maybe he has a larger role, but presumably, the filmmakers will be saving that tease for either the movie or the first trailer.
Though Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed both movies originally, the new Searchlight evidently didn’t have dibs on these belated sequels. “28 Years Later” is now under Sony Pictures, who won the most recent bid for the film. That’s partly because Tom Rothman, the head of Sony, oversaw Searchlight in the 90s, ran Fox proper in the 2000s, and has a working relationship with Boyle that ran over eight movies, including the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours.”
“28 Years Later” comes in two parts and is expected to shoot this summer, presumably for a 2025 release. Both films have a budget in the $60 million dollar range and a theatrical commitment to Sony. Watch this space indeed, and also watch the full interview below.