If you are a horror fan, chances are you’re familiar with Danny Boyle's post-apocalyptic drama 28 Days Later which starred Cillian Murphy. The movie came out two decades ago and told the tale of Jim, a bicycle messenger who awakens from a coma to find a nearly abandoned London, full of zombies due to the accidental release of a highly contagious virus. The movie brought back the zombie subgenre to the big screen cementing Boyle's status as a filmmaker and Murphy's as a star. It then spanned into the sequel 28 Weeks Later, a 2007 graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, and a comic book series by the same name.
To celebrate the original film's 20th anniversary Boyle and Murphy teased plans to reunite for a threequel, in an interview with NME. The actor revealed he “loves the idea, and it’s very appealing” to him and that another movie in the franchise is always on his mind. He further revealed that he showed it to his “kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it.” Adding, “It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old.” Since the 2002 movie, Boyle went on to do features like Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and Steve Jobs while Murphy got busy doing features like fan-favorite series Peaky Blinders, Inception, Dunkirk, and more. Following all of these projects, it's thrilling to hear a third movie is still on the table.
Boyle revealed that the scribe of the original feature, Alex Garland has already written the script for 28 Months Later with a “lovely idea,” at its core. He further shared his excitement saying, “I’d be very tempted [to direct it]. 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.”
He feels that the movie can come back into focus as fans have “less and less reasons” to go to the cinema nowadays. He explained:
"One of the things that’s happening in the business at the moment is it has to be a big reason for you to go to the cinema. It’s hard for companies distributing films and for cinema chains to show films, they’re struggling to get people into the cinema unless it’s something like Top Gun: Maverick or a Marvel. But a third part would get people in, if it was half-decent."
So stay tuned horror fans as Boyle and Murphy may reunite soon. In the meantime, you can check out the trailer of 28 Days Later below: