There were early rumours that Cillian Murphy would return as Jim in 28 Years Later, but producer Andrew Macdonald later clarified he wouldn’t appear—at least not in the first film. Now, director Danny Boyle has confirmed to IGN that Murphy will show up at the end of the second installment, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and is expected to play a larger role in the third film—if it gets made.
“He is in the second one,” Boyle revealed. “I shouldn’t give away too much. I’ll get killed.” Assuming 28 Years Later performs well at the box office, the third chapter of the trilogy will move forward. Boyle told Business Insider he hopes Murphy’s presence will help secure funding: “All I can say is you have to wait for Cillian, but hopefully he will help us get the third film financed.”
Boyle said each film in the trilogy will stand alone, but there are characters and story elements which will flow through all the movies. “Well, it’s three films, a trilogy of films which have connecting characters,” he said. “We’ve shot the first two back-to-back, and that was for logistical reasons, actor availability reasons, and for story reasons as well. They’re literally continuous… There’s a coda… it’s not a coda, it’s the epilogue or an end theme at the end of the first film [28 Years Later] that gives you a handover to the second film. Although each story completes itself, there’s a handover section to the next film as well. So it’s very ambitious. We haven’t got the money for the third one yet. It will depend how the first one does, I guess. But hopefully if we do ok, they’ll give us the go-ahead for the money and for the third one. Everybody’s standing by for that, really. Including Cillian.“
The official synopsis for 28 Years Later: “It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.” The film will hit theaters on June 20, with the sequel slated for a January 16, 2026 release.
I’ve got my fingers crossed these movies do well; I need to know what Jim’s been up to!
