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Cillian Murphy May Return To His Breakout Role In 28 Days Later Sequel? Find Out As Makers Hope To Launch A Trilogy
Cillian Murphy will be involved in 28 Years Later, the third horror film in the franchise, following the 2002 film's portrayal of a rage virus causing violent behaviour and the 2007 sequel's repopulation attempt.
Culver City-based studio has emerged victorious in a lengthy bidding war for the sequel to the 2002 horror classic 28 Days Later. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have reunited to write and direct the sequel 28 Years Later, which also comes with a Part 2, to be written by Garland. Boyle would only direct the first project, with the sequel’s director to be determined at a later stage. Cillian Murphy, whose career was launched thanks to the original movie, is also returning, as an executive producer. The Oppenheimer star could also possibly act in the project, although details are being quarantined.
ALSO READ: What Happened During The Filming Of Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy's Intimate Scene In Oppenheimer? 
Will Cillian Murphy return to the sequel of 28 Days Later?
Cillian Murphy will be involved in the production of 28 Years Later, the third installment in the horror franchise. The original 2002 film, 28 Days Later, portrayed a rage virus turning the UK's population into violent creatures. The 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, focused on a group attempting to repopulate after the disease was supposedly eradicated.
Murphy's 28 Years Later return is possible as Jim, the character he played lived until the end of 28 Days Later, with the ending hinting at their imminent rescue after starvation. However, they were not mentioned in 28 Weeks Later, so their fate is uncertain. The virus' spread throughout continental Europe in the sequel likely complicated their chances.
Ultimately, Jim's return depends on Murphy's willingness to commit to a more involved role in the project. This may not be a given, as he likely has a wealth of new projects to choose from following his Oscar nomination for his role in Christopher Nolan's 2023 smash hit Oppenheimer. Even if he is too busy to star in the movie, however, his involvement as a producer could place him on set for long enough to film a cameo appearance detailing Jim's fate.
The Oppenheimer star has shown his willingness to return to the post-apocalyptic horror genre with his appearance opposite Emily Blunt in the 2021 sequel A Quiet Place Part II. However, even if Murphy doesn't return onscreen in 28 Years Later, that doesn't necessarily preclude any other 28 Days Later characters from coming back.
More about the movie, 28 Years Later
WME, representing Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, submitted a package to Hollywood studios and streamers three weeks ago, attracting interest. The bidding ultimately fell to Warner Bros. and Sony, with the idea of the original creators returning to lead a sequel being compared to George Miller's 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road.
Boyle and Garland will also produce the movie, as would original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of onetime studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel. Bernie Bellew is also producing.
Sony had a unique weapon in the auction: a 30-year-plus relationship between studio head Tom Rothman and Boyle. Rothman founded Fox Searchlight in the 1990s and also ran Fox’s film division in the early 2000s, working with Boyle on eight movies, ranging from A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach, which was Boyle’s first collaboration with Garland, to the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours.
Boyle and Garland also collaborated on 28 Days Later, the film that reinvigorated the zombie genre, paving the way for titles such as The Walking Dead, World War Z, and Zombieland, The Last of Us, to name a few. Murphy starred as a man who wakes up from a coma, alone in a hospital, only to discover the outside world had been overtaken by the undead 28 days earlier. The 2002 film grossed $82.7 million globally and spawned a sequel, 2007’s 28 Weeks later, though Boyle and Garland were only nominally involved as executive producers.
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