28 Years Later: fans suspect Cillian Murphy will return to the screen

The cult British post-apocalyptic franchise 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, which was first released in 2002, has been extended. The network showed a trailer for the sequel, which director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland called 28 Years Later.

Fans of the first part noticed an interesting detail in the trailer. One of the scenes shows the world after the zombie apocalypse, in which actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson walks through the green fields of England, armed with a bow and arrow.

Almost two decades after 28 Days Later, Jim, the protagonist of the first film, played by Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy, appears in the footage. However, there is one caveat: the star appears as a zombie, so it is likely that the character was infected with the "rage virus."

According to Deadline, the name of the golden statuette winner does not appear on the advertising posters, which means that Murphy is unlikely to play the main role in the sequel, although he became the executive producer of the film. Earlier, the return of the Irish actor was announced by the head of Sony Motion Pictures Group Tom Rothman. "Yes (Murphy will return. - Ed.)," Rothman confirmed the fans' guesses before adding mysteriously, "but in a strange way.

Fans of the franchise couldn't contain their emotions at what they saw in the trailer. "The zombie rising up in the field looks like Cillian Murphy," wrote one commenter, while another added: "Cillian Murphy, is that you?!?"

28 Days Later was a breakthrough low-budget hit in 2002. Shot in a "run and gun" style on a cheap digital video camera, it popularized the "fast zombie" trend of the 2000s - although the film refers to the mindless horde of the dead as "infected" rather than zombies or the undead.

In this original movie, Cillian Murphy stars as Jim, a bike courier who wakes up in the hospital to find out that the UK is overrun by a zombie epidemic and he must team up with Naomie Harris (Selena) and Brendan Gleeson (Frank) to survive.

"It's been nearly three decades since the rage virus broke out of a biological weapons lab, and now, still under a ruthless quarantine, some have found a way to exist among the infected. One of these groups of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, well-protected causeway. When one of them leaves the island on a mission to the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers the secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but also other survivors," the synopsis reads. The film was shot with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and will be released on June 20, 2025.

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