Cillian Murphy will reprise his role in '28 Years Later'

After months of rumors, finally Sony Pictures makes it official: Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as Jim in 28 Years Laterthe anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later from the director Danny Boyle and the screenwriter Alex Garland. Boyle and Garland were the director and screenwriter, respectively, of the original film.

It had previously been announced that recent Oscar winner Murphy would be involved as executive producer of the sequel, and that he remained interested in returning as Jim.

The news was confirmed by Tim Rothman, president of Sony Motion Pictures Group, telling Deadline about Murphy's return:

“Yeah [vuelve]but in a surprising and growing way, let me put it that way.”

“This is Danny. [Boyle] at its best, combined with a very commercial genre, like the one we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. “Sometimes when you put a real director in a commercial setting, he elevates it.”

So there we have it, Murphy will be back in the role of bike messenger, Jim, one of the only survivors of the apocalypse-inducing virus seen in 28 Days Later y 28 Weeks Later.

In the original movie, 28 Days Later (2002) Jim wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident, and discovers that England is now a desolate, post-apocalyptic meltdown, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. Jim then meets a survivor played by Naomie Harris, and a military maniac, played by Christopher Eccleston.

In the new installment, Murphy joins a cast led by Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, The Bikeriders), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy, Bullet Train), Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter), y Jack O’Connell (Back to Black, Unbroken).

28 Years Later It is not only a long-awaited sequel to 28 Days Laterbut It will be the beginning of a new trilogy. The first installment will be directed by Boyle, while Garland will be the screenwriter for all three installments. Both will produce alongside the original's producer, Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, and Bernie Bellew, and with Murphy as executive producer.

It has also already been announced Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) as the director of the second film in the trilogy. Plans are for Boyle to direct the first film later this year, with the second filming immediately afterward. This way, directors can agree on where they see the story going, while also bringing their own unique visions to each film.

In addition to becoming a commercial hit, the original 2002 film injected new life into the zombie subgenre, introducing a new form of undead, moving away from those slow walkers, now being ferocious and fast. He also analyzed the fragile nature of society in these pandemic scenarios, which would later be analyzed in other films such as Zombieland, World War Zand the series The Walking Deadamong others.

In recent days, Sony announced that it had set the June 20, 2025 as the release date of 28 Years Later.