Does Cillian Murphy return in ’28 Years Later’?

Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later is arriving in cinemas next week, but does Cillian Murphy return in the film? Read on to find out.

The post-apocalyptic horror film is a sequel to Boyle’s 2002 original 28 Days Later and the 2007 follow-up 28 Weeks Later, and it is released in cinemas on June 20.

It stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes and it is set a few decades after the initial virus struck, focusing on a group of survivors who live on a small island off the mainland.

Boyle recently said that the new film, which is written by 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, is a response to Brexit and its fallout.

“It’s not a political film, but when we started work on this, it came after Brexit and that retrenchment to older values, and you cannot help but think that this film is a response to that,” he explained. “The film is full of British actors, and our obsessions.”

He added: “I cannot imagine what the Americans are going to make of it. Obviously you’d love it to be a hit there, because they’ve given us the money, but really? We’ve made the film for here, my homeland.”

In May, Scottish prog hip-hop outfit Young Fathers announced that they had provided the score for the new film.

Does Cillian Murphy return in 28 Years Later?

It has been confirmed that Murphy will not reprise his role as bicycle courier Jim in 28 Years Later, although he will be involved in one of its sequels.

28 Years Later is actually set to be the first in a trilogy of new films in the franchise. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will follow in January 2026, directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels), with a third planned to follow after that.

In April, Boyle appeared to confirm that Murphy would appear at some point in the trilogy, but added: “Like all good things in life, you may have to wait a little while for him to make his appearance.”

More recently, Boyle went further by confirming: “He is in the second one. I shouldn’t give away too much, I’ll get killed.”

“We haven’t got the money for the third one yet. It will depend how the first one does, I guess,” he added. “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 post Does Cillian Murphy return in ’28 Years Later’? appeared first on NME.