28 Years Later: Cillian Murphy returns to the zombie horror franchise

Cillian Murphy is all set to join the cast of Danny Boyle's upcoming film 28 Years Later. This marks the Oppenheimer actor's return to the post-apocalyptic zombie franchise after 22 years.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman was asked if Murphy would be joining the cast. Although it was earlier announced that he would be executive producing the third installment, it was unclear if he'd be reprising his lead role from the original, 28 Days Later which was one of his breakout roles back in 2002.

"Yes, but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way," Rothman answered. "This is (director) Danny (Boyle) at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it," he added.

The film, which has a script written by Alex Garland, will be a follow-up to 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. Boyle and Garland are reuniting for 28 Years Later after 17 years. The film stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell in the lead roles.

Although the plot of the upcoming film is under wraps, the original 28 Days Later was centered on a bicycle courier (played by Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to discover the world had been overrun with zombies following the outbreak of a virus. The film was a massive box office success and led to a standalone 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, on which Boyle and Garland served solely as executive producers.

Apart from helming the film, Boyle and Garland are also producing 28 Years Later, along with the original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on June 20, 2025.

28 Years Later is the first in a planned trilogy of sequels. Earlier, Deadline reported that Candyman director Nia DiCosta was in talks to helm the second instalment, which is planned to shoot back-to-back with the first film.