- Horror sequel 28 Years Later is coming
- Danny Boyle’s sequel will kick-start a new trilogy
- New production reports indicate that it could wrap before first film debuts
28 Years Later isn’t out yet but we’re already thinking about not just its follow-up but 28 Years Later Part 3.
New reports have suggested that production on the entire 28 Years Later trilogy could be in the can before the first instalment has even reached cinemas.
Read more: Everything we know about 28 Years Later as trailer drops
Director Danny Boyle is set to return to the iconic British horror franchise that he started with 2001’s 28 Days Later to tell a brand new story. Joining him is original movie screenwriter Alex Garland. He’s dreamed up a brand new direction for this tale of Britain overrun by a viral epidemic, one requiring two additional instalments.
While Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta takes the reigns for 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, it was believed that Boyle would return to steer the trilogy home. While unconfirmed, his involvement was reported to be dependent on the success of 28 Years Later.
Read more: What is the audio in the 28 Years Later trailer?
However, as per movie site JoBlo, this plan could be in flux. The site found a new report on Production List suggesting 28 Years Later will start filming on 31 March 2025 with Boyle as its director.
JoBlo also suggests that if filming goes off without a hitch, the whole trilogy could be in the can before 28 Years Later hits cinemas on 20 June 2025.
Will Cillian Murphy be in 28 Years Later?
Well, the answer to that question is still up for debate.
Production details suggest that original series star Cillian Murphy will be involved in some capacity. However, at present, it remains unclear how.
Murphy played bike courier Jim in the original 28 Days Later. When we first meet him he’s woken up from a coma to find England overrun by rage zombies.
Read more: Three of the biggest 28 Years Later plot theories
Fans thought they’d spotted him in the movie’s first trailer. However, producer Andrew MacDonald confirmed to Empire that he won’t actually be appearing in 28 Years Later after all.
This followed the news that Murphy will be back in a “suprising” way. How surprising you ask? Well, no one knows just yet but the movie’s trailer features plenty of references to someone called “Jimmy”.
Could this point towards the fate of Murphy’s character? Time will tell.
What else do we know about 28 Years Later?
28 Years Later finds a group of survivors who have carved out a relatively normal existence on an island cut off from mainland Britain.
“It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected,” explains the film’s synopsis.
“One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.”
Speaking to IndieWire, star Ralph Feinnes shed some more light on the project. “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother,” explained the Conclave star.
“He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.”
