All hail the legendary duo, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, who are set to resurrect the world they so eerily brought to life back in 2002 with 28 Days Later. Thanks to Sony greenlighting the upcoming sequel, 28 Years Later, the screams, the survival cries, and the sheer cinematic genius that birthed the zombie genre as we now know it will get another chance to thrill audiences.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to break the exciting news, revealing that Sony had emerged victorious in a bidding war that involved Warner Bros. for the rights to the franchise. Cillian Murphy, the man who woke up in a desolate London hospital, bewildered and alone, will return in the capacity of an executive producer. However, there’s no information yet on whether he will star in the film once again.
Perhaps the most interesting part about this is the fact that 28 Years Later will potentially kickstart an entirely new trilogy of films, with Garland set to pen the scripts for all three films. Though Boyle has only signed up to direct 28 Years Later, it’s quite likely that he’ll return to work with longtime collaborator Garland on all three films. As of now, only a sequel to 28 Years Later has been confirmed.
Details about the deal the duo struck with Sony are still under wraps, but it’s believed that each film will be allocated a $60 million production budget. Considering 28 Days Later impressed both critics and audiences alike with a modest $8 million production budget, we can’t wait to see what Boyle and Garland can do with a bigger budget.
In fact, the duo has established a reputation for creating terrific films on meager production budgets (the 2007 sci-fi film Sunshine, which also stars Murphy, is another perfect example), so it is safe to say we can expect them to blow our socks off.
Whether 28 Years Later (which was at one point titled 28 Months Later) will pay homage to its roots or carve a new path through the overgrown, zombie-infested landscape remains to be seen. Fortunately, the presence of Boyle and Garland, coupled with Murphy’s keen oversight, screams box-office records all over it.
28 Days Later was the film that first put Cillian Murphy on the map, and now, 22 years later, he’s poised to win his first Oscar award for his spectacular performance in Oppenheimer. Watching the demure Irish actor rise through Hollywood to become one of the most sought-after actors has been thoroughly gratifying. Here’s to many more years and successes.
