Cillian Murphy Just Teased a New 28 Days Later Sequel

When 28 Days Later was released in 2002, it brought new life to a flagging subgenre of horror: the zombie apocalypse. Directed by Danny Boyle with a script from cult novelist Alex Garland (who has since gone on to become one of Hollywood’s most celebrated screenwriters), it made the undead scary again by getting rid of the slow, staggering trope and instead turning zombies into rage-fuelled, fast-moving monsters.

And those angry, biting hordes could be making their way back onto our screens again.

In a recent NME story celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary, Boyle and leading man Cillian Murphy (whose career took off in part due to his performance here) reflected on their experience of making 28 Days Later, and teased the possibility of a third installment in the series, following 2007’s 28 Weeks Later.

According to Boyle, Garland completed a script for a third movie, entitled 28 Months Later, a couple of years ago, and it is a really “lovely idea” for a story. “I’d be very tempted [to direct it],” he said. “It feels like a very good time actually. It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered ‘Bang, this script!’ which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we’ll see… who knows?”

Murphy is also very open to coming back and reprising the role of Jim, which essentially finally gives fans a canonical answer as to his fate at the end of the first movie (an alternate ending shows him dying).

“I think there’s a problem with that, in that I’m 20 years older,” he said. “But every time I do bump into Danny or Alex I always mention it. Because I showed it to my kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it. It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old. So yeah, I love the idea and it’s very appealing to me.”