28 Years Later Director Teases “Wholly Different” Approach to New Trilogy

The rage virus unleashes its next evolution as filmmakers Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reunite to launch an ambitious new trilogy in their acclaimed zombie franchise. Set nearly three decades after the original outbreak devastated Britain, 28 Years Later promises to explore the long-term consequences of the infection that first terrified audiences in 2002. The extended time jump allows the creators to examine how society has adapted to survive in a world forever changed by the pandemic while introducing a new generation of survivors who have known nothing but this harsh reality their entire lives.

“This is very narratively ambitious. Danny and I understood that. We tried to condense it, but its natural form felt like a trilogy,” screenwriter Alex Garland tells Empire Magazine about the sprawling new story.

The expansive narrative kicks off with its first installment on June 20th before continuing with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Candyman’s Nia DaCosta. Director Danny Boyle will return to helm the trilogy’s conclusion, though Collider reports the final chapter awaits audience response to the first film.

“It was a wholly different approach. It was about what that 28 years gives you,” Boyle explains of the unprecedented fast forward, which far exceeds the six-month leap between the original film and 28 Weeks Later. This extended timeline allows the creators to explore a radically transformed Britain centered on the isolated community of Holy Island (Lindisfarne), connected to the mainland only by a tide-dependent causeway.

[RELATED – 28 Years Later Trailer’s Haunting Audio Recording Has Ominous Implications for the Threequel]

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer lead the new cast as Jamie and Isla, parents raising their 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) in this fortified haven.

“It’s a closed and necessarily very tight community,” Boyle notes. “There are very strict defence laws, obviously, to survive that long in what is effectively an ongoing hostile environment. They’ve created a successful community, as they see it.”

Things take a dramatic turn when young Spike sets out to leave the protected island and encounters the devastating truth about the outside world.

Fan speculation about original star Cillian Murphy’s involvement intensified after the release of the first trailer, with many believing they spotted a zombified version of his character Jim. However, this was later debunked, and Boyle clarified to Empire that the undead figure was actually played by art dealer Angus Neill.

“I showed my girlfriend the trailer and she said, ‘People will think that’s Cillian’. I said, ‘Don’t be silly’. I ignored her. So I’ve eaten a bit of humble pie since,” producer Andrew Macdonald admitted.

While Murphy won’t appear in the first film, his involvement could expand beyond his current executive producer role, Macdonald having previously explained to Empire, “[On] this, we wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved. He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line. He’s involved at the moment as an executive producer, and I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy.”

It’s an ambitious expansion of the 28 Days universe, promising to explore the long-term effects of the rage virus across multiple interconnected films.