Cillian Murphy Would Be Up to Return for 28 Months Later

The original 2002 28 Days Later not only helped completely revive the zombie subgenre, but also was the breakout performance for star Cillian Murphy, and while there have been no official updates on a third film in the series, Murphy recently confirmed he’d be interested in returning to the series in some capacity. The film’s only sequel, 28 Weeks Later, hit theaters in 2007 and didn’t directly continue the events of the original film, so it’s unclear how Murphy’s Jim would return if the series jumped forward the presumed 28 months, but his willingness to take part in a follow-up will surely excite fans.

“I would never say never. I loved to make that movie. Was a long time ago. But sure [I would like to return],” Murphy shared with CinePOP.

Back in the 2000s, the series took a new approach to zombie lore, doing away with the traditional slow-moving zombies and making the threats much faster, while also depicting them as rage-filled humans that were reduced to primal instincts as opposed to being corpses come back from the dead. Following in suit with George A. Romero’s zombie series, each 28 film focused on different characters and different points in the zombie timeline. The first film saw Murphy’s Jim waking up after being in a coma following a bike accident, having to grapple with a world that had descended into an apocalyptic scenario, while 28 Weeks Later jumped forward by months to show the outbreak being somewhat contained. Understandably, society hadn’t gotten as good of a grasp on the situation as they had anticipated.

Unfortunately, back in 2018, writer Alex Garland cast doubt on ever getting a third film, as he revealed in a Reddit AMA when asked if he had plans for a third film, “Kind of, but doubt it will ever happen.”

Last year, however, star of 28 Weeks Later Imogen Poots admitted she’d also be open to returning for a third film.

“Oh, it’s such an interesting idea to think about. It’s weird,” Poots shared with Movieweb when asked about joining a sequel. “I think about that movie like a first love because it was really the first foray I had into acting and obviously was lucky enough to be with Rose Byrne and Jeremy Renner. All of these incredible actors. But yeah, absolutely. I mean, the team behind that. Alex Garland and Danny Boyle. Everyone’s really… Well, Danny Boyle was already Danny Boyle, but everyone has gone on to do such amazing things. I want that [28 Weeks Later] director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to do some more work. He’s so exceptional. But yeah, I love that film.”

Stay tuned for details on a possible future for the series.

Would you like a third film in the franchise? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!