It looks like that Cillian Murphy won’t be making an appearance in this year’s 28 Years Later after all – find out more below.
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28 Years Later, which is due for release in June 2025 will mark the long-awaited return of the beloved franchise, and will follow new leads Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland – who helmed the acclaimed 2002 original – return to direct and write respectively.
Last year, it was reported that Murphy – who led the original 2002 film 28 Days Later – would be involved in the new sequel trilogy as an executive producer, and that he would be returning for the new film “in a surprising way and in a way that grows [the character]”.
Naomie Harris and Cillian Murphy in ’28 Days Later’. Credit: Sundance/WireImage
This was further sparked by a zombie in the 28 Years Later trailer who eerily resembled Murphy, though this was later confirmed to be a character is played by model and art dealer Angus Neill instead.
Now, however, in a new interview with Empire, producer Andrew Macdonald has confirmed that Cillian will not appear onscreen in the upcoming 2025 film, though there’s hope for his appearance in one of its two planned sequels: “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.”
Macdonald continued: “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.”
The 2025 film will kick off a planned trilogy for the series, which will see Garland write for all, but Boyle directing the first. The second film in the trilogy 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is being directed by Nia DaCosta and has been revealed to be hitting cinemas just months after 28 Years Later.
’28 Days Later’. CREDIT: Getty/Sundance
Empire has since confirmed that Danny Boyle will also return to direct the currently untitled sequel to The Bone Temple. The untitled third film has yet to receive a release date.
The Bone Temple is due to release on January 16, 2026 in the United States. The sequel has yet to receive a UK release date, but it is expected to release within the same window. For context, 28 Years Later will release in the US and UK on the same day next year: June 20, 2025.
READ MORE: Everything we know about ‘28 Years Later’ and its proposed sequels
Boyle has also confirmed that the new 28 Years Later trilogy will take on “a wholly different approach” compared to the first two films. For the new trilogy, the rest of the world remains largely uninfected, leaving just the UK as the breeding grounds for the virus.
28 Years Later is the third movie in the main series following the 2002 movie and its 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later. The first trailer for 28 Years Later released earlier this month and quickly became the most-watched horror trailer of 2024 and the second most-watched of all time.
Speaking to NME in 2022, Murphy is also serving as executive producer on the movie, two years after he said about a potential return to the franchise: “I think there’s a problem with that, in that I’m 20 years older… but every time I do bump into Danny or Alex [Garland, screenwriter] 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.”
The post Cillian Murphy won’t appear in ’28 Years Later’ after all appeared first on NME.
