Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy says he’d love to do a 28 Days Later sequel if one condition is met.
Murphy is a household name in 2023, thanks to his leading role in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, but he’s been acting in big movies for over two decades. Murphy's big break came in the 2002 zombie horror apocalypse film 28 Days Later. Since then, he’s turned in stellar performances like Robert Fischer in Inception, the Scarecrow in Christian Bale's Dark Knight trilogy, and Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders. Despite finding success in various genres, the Irish actor recently said he wouldn’t mind returning to apocalyptic London.
28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and science fiction writer Alex Garland revealed they were seriously considering a return to the zombie franchise. Murphy was enthusiastic about potentially returning, stating that he would happily play Jim again under one condition. “I’m up for it. I’d love to do it,” Murphy stated to Collider, “If Alex [Garland] thinks there’s a script in it and Danny [Boyle} wants to do it, I’d love to do it."
Although 28 Days Later already has a sequel – titled 28 Weeks Later – Murphy's character did not appear in it. The sequel also lacked involvement from Garland and Boyle, which might explain why 28 Weeks Later did not make as big a splash as its predecessor. In particular, Garland expressed that he was not satisfied with how the story played out. 28 Weeks Later earned much less than the original, earning $65.8 million compared to 28 Days Later's $84.6 million. Fans initially expected a sequel titled 28 Months Later to follow, but the first sequel’s lesser performance delayed production.
Despite the lesser success of 28 Weeks Later, there’s still a lot of excitement for another sequel, especially if Boyle, Garland, and Murphy reunited. Murphy even has an idea of when the sequel should take place. Since the movie finished shooting in 2000, Murphy thinks 28 Years Later is the best option. Murphy's title also matches up with an idea Garland is reportedly developing with Boyle, though neither disclosed any specifics.
Although all parties involved are at least open to developing a new movie set in the fast-zombies universe, there have been no solid details of a potential 28 Days Later sequel. However, fans have pointed out that 28 Years Later has a perfect opportunity to play into its title and release in 2028.
28 Days Later is available on Blu-Ray.
Source: Collider