- Irish star Murphy was lead actor in first film in the series, 28 Days Later
- He had previously been confirmed to be on board in an executive producer role
- Adds to star-studded cast including Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Oscar winner Cillian Murphy has been confirmed as part of the cast for 28 Years Later – more than 20 years after he starred in the original 28 Days Later film.
When the initial announcement that 28 Years Later was in the works was made in April, Murphy was named as an executive producer, but it wasn’t clear if he would be reprising his lead role from 28 Days Later.
But now Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman has confirmed that Murphy will be past of the cast. Speaking to Deadline, Rothman said that Murphy will be acting in the film “but in a surprising way and in a way that grows.”
Reunited
This means that Murphy will be reunited with director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland from the 2002 film. In that film, a motorbike courier, Jim, awakes from a coma to find that England has been ravaged by the Rage virus, which turns suffers into bloodthirsty zombies. The film was a hit taking more than $80 million at the box office.
A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released in 2007, but Boyle and Garland were only executive producers on that film, and Murphy was not involved in the cast.
28 Days Later was a breakout role for Murphy, who has gone to star in hit TV shows such as Peaky Blinders and films such as Oppenheimer – for which he scooped the Best Actor award at this year’s Oscars.
Stellar cast
The confirmation that Murphy will be playing a part will add to the anticipation for this film. He joins an already stellar cast, which includes Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy), Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron).
Plot details for the film – which is slated to be the first in a new trilogy – are still under wraps, but Murphy’s involvement would indicate that the hero of the first film, Jim, will be back.
