We recently learned that the director and writer behind 2002’s "zombie" classic 28 Days Later will join forces yet again for at least one sequel (possibly a trilogy), and we now have a (potentially) very exciting update.
Though we're not sure why they decided to skip 28 Months, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland will reunite for 28 Years Later, which has now found a home at Sony Pictures after what's being described as "a protracted bidding war to win the rights to the sequel package."
According to THR, Cillian Murphy, who played the lead in the original movie, is on board as an executive producer, and could also reprise his role for the new movies (or the first one, at least).
Murphy is nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in Oppenheimer, so a win might end up swaying his decision! An Oscar winner is going to be in a much better position to negotiate a fee, after all.
28 Days Later was a massive success, and is still seen as an incredibly influential film in the horror genre. It's already spawned one less well-regarded (but still well worth watching) follow-up in 2007's 28 Weeks Later. Boyle and Garland were only involved as executive producers on that project, however, so a lot of fans are sure to view this new movie as the first true sequel.
Boyle is attached to direct the first instalment, while Garland would write all three. The budget for each movie is said to be in the $75 million range.
The first film starred Murphy as a nameless man who wakes from a coma after a bicycle accident to find that England has been overrun by "The Infected." The virus turns its victims into raging killers, but unlike the usual "zombies" from Night of the Living Dead and other genre classic, these creatures can move with frightening speed.
The man then sets out to learn what's been going on, meeting fellow survivors played by Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson along the way, as well as a deranged army major played by Christopher Eccleston.
Plot details for 28 Years Later are still under wraps, but the timeframe would suggest that it will take place in a near-future setting, which means the movie could include some sci-fi elements. There was no mention of the surviving characters (played by Murphy and Harris) in the previous report, but it had been assumed that Boyle and Garland would enlist a new cast.
What do you make of this news? Would you like to see Murphy return as the first movie's protagonist? Drop us a comment down below.