Cillian Murphy will be part of 28 Years Later 'in a surprising way'

More information is coming in about the upcoming 28 Days Later sequel, 28 Years Later, the start of a new trilogy of sequels from Sony. Previously, we reported that 28 Days Later star and Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy would return as an executive producer role for the upcoming movie currently slated for a June 2025 release, but a new report suggests Murphy will reprise his original role as the bike courier Jim.

Speaking exclusively to Deadline, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman revealed that Murphy's role in the 2025 movie will be a "surprising one" that "grows."

He didn't reveal anything else about Murphy's role, but he praised director Danny Boyle, who returns to helm the sequel alongside screenwriter Alex Garland.

"This is Danny at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and 'Baby Driver.' Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it."

Of course, Murphy is coming off a very successful 2023, having won the Academy Award for Best Actor in the Christoper Nolan-directed film Oppenheimer. The film was a massive success with critics, audiences, and at the box office.

His 28 Days Later character, Jim, was one of only a handful of survivors of the original Rage Virus after it plagued Great Britain. At the end of the original film, he, Selena (Naomie Harris), and Hannah (Megan Burns), are the last ones alive, implied to be rescued by a passing aircraft.

The trio, also known as the Manchester Three, reappears in the 28 Days Later comic book series, in which Jim is scheduled to be executed by a firing squad for his hand in the death of Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) and his men. Presumably, he's managed to survive or escape his sentence, and we'll catch up with him in the new movie, or the comic might be ignored or retconned entirely.

28 Years Later premieres in theaters on June 20, 2025. In addition to Murphy, the film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O'Connell, and Ralph Fiennes.

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