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We’re still a few years early, but go off. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reuniting to release 28 Years Later with Sony Pictures in 2025. This follows the 2007 release of 28 Weeks Later, their sequel to their postapocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later. Rumors of a third movie have been spreading as early as 2015; but we finally took several zombie steps closer this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Boyle and Garland began shopping their new project to potential buyers in January 2024 … except it apparently wasn’t just one movie. They were reportedly pitching a whole trilogy of new films. Will our favorite bike messenger make an appearance? Here’s the latest on what we know about the upcoming first film and its sequel(s), including what happens in the trailers, how involved Cillian Murphy will be, who’s in the cast, and when the release date is.
What’s going on in the trailer(s)?
Set to a creepy recitation of Rudyard Kipling’s war poem “Boots,” the two-minute December 2024 trailer plays pretty coy with the plot. Clearly, the world is still dealing with a zombie problem. We see terrified children, Aaron Taylor-Johnson with a bow and arrow, people with some disturbing masks on, a giant pile of skulls, and a sickly figure that looks suspiciously like Cillian Murphy (but turned out not to be him, a producer later confirmed to Empire.) Beyond that, it’s not immediately clear exactly what’s going on yet.
A second trailer released this April gave us a few more scenes. For some reason, a father and son have decided to leave their protected island village and go on a mission to the mainland, where “there’s no rescues.” There are quick flashes of zombies running through a field, bursting through stained glass, descending upon a thrilled priest who calls them his “children,” and just generally looking terrifying.
Thankfully, an official synopsis gives us some helpful context for all this footage. Despite a “ruthlessly enforced” quarantine, some people have found ways to exist “amidst the infected,” nearly three decades after the “rage virus” escaped. “One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway,” the synopsis reads. “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.”
What’s happened in the franchise so far?
The first film stars Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, who wakes up from a coma to a contagious, deadly disease that turns humans into zombies. 2007’s 28 Weeks Later takes place after the initial outbreak and is a stand-alone film following different survivors (Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, and Catherine McCormack).
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Which character actors are in the cast this time?
Deadline reported in April that Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu) would be our latest group of Brits fighting off the undead. Child-star Alfie Williams and Derbeian actor Jack O’Connell were later also confirmed as cast members.
And 28 Years Later is a trilogy?
Yup. In fact, Ralph Fiennes told IndieWire in October 2024 that the first two parts had already been shot. 28 Years Later reportedly filmed back to back with its sequel, which a copyright filing seems to suggest may be called 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple. (We still like our previous suggestion, 28 Years Later 2: Uhhhh…29 Years Later? but, whatever). Deadline reported that Boyle will directing the first film, while Candyman director Nia DaCosta will direct the second.
Wait, so is Cillian Murphy in 28 Years Later?
He’s not in this first film, producer Andrew Macdonald told Empire in January. However, Boyle recently confirmed that we will eventually see Jim later in this trilogy. Murphy will have “a very satisfying introduction” in the second film, the director told IndieWire on June 3, noting that he’s seen a rough cut of DaCosta’s sequel that will be tested with audiences in July. However, the final film in the trilogy is seemingly the one Jim fans should be most excited for. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out there’s going to be a big role for Cillian Murphy in it,” Boyle said of the third installment. “Yeah, a significant role.” Murphy is on board to executive produce 28 Years Later, so he’ll also be involved in the first installment from behind the camera.
Previously, Sony’s Tom Rothman said in a May 2024 interview with Deadline that Murphy would be returning to the 28-iverse — but in a new, freaky way. When asked if Murphy would appear in 28 Years Later, Rothman replied, “Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.” So, like, he’s a zombie? Sounds like he’s going to cameo as a zombie. “I think I’ve made eight movies with Danny Boyle, and I hold him in the pantheon and we have his new 28 Days trilogy,” Rothman said. “It’s 28 Years Later, but not in any way a literal sequel.” Except it sets up Cillian Murphy’s literal return, right?
When is 28 Years Later coming out?
Count the days until the release date of June 20, 2025. Depending on who you ask, that’s somewhere between 22 and 23 years after 28 Days Later came out (November 2002 in the U.K., June 2003 in the U.S.). Just a few more years, and the title would have really hit different, huh?
