Oscar Winner Cillian Murphy Is Returning To The Horror Franchise That Kickstarted His Career
Before "Oppenheimer" fever swept the globe, what was actor Cillian Murphy's best and most recognizable role? Some would point to the ever-popular "Peaky Blinders" and his delightfully Brummie performance as Tommy Shelby. Anyone who offered up his casting as a space-faring physicist in Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" or even his villainous turn in Wes Craven's "Red Eye" would earn my eternal respect. But for many of us, the quintessential zombie flick "28 Days Later" best showed off what Murphy had to offer back in 2002. With plans already in motion for a return visit to that post-apocalyptic world in the sequel "28 Years Later," we've waited with bated breath to see if Murphy himself would reprise his role.
That wait is now over. The talented actor is officially coming back for "28 Years Later," as confirmed by Sony Motion Pictures Group head honcho Tom Rothman in an interview with Deadline. In the ultimate example of burying the lede, the chairman casually dropped the bombshell about Murphy's return while talking up the sequel and the full-fledged trilogy to come (at least one of which will be directed by filmmaker Nia DaCosta). While also backing up recent reports that Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer (along with Ralph Fiennes) had been cast, Rothman had this to say about "28 Years Later":
"Great cast, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer [...] Yes, [Cillian Murphy will be back], but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way."
28 Years Later isn't a straightforward sequel
As exciting as this news is, it's admittedly difficult to know what to make of the idea of "28 Years Later" and the new trilogy of movies that are to come. Director Danny Boyle's 2002 original seemed to tell a pretty self-contained story of a deeply unfortunate bicycle courier (Cillian Murphy's Jim) who wakes up from a coma, only to realize that he's now living in a zombified world utterly unlike the one he previously knew. Forced to fight his way through virus-ridden humans, renegade soldiers, and fellow survivors with suspicious motives, Murphy's character ultimately makes it through to the end of the film, setting him up for a return in any potential sequel.
But, according to Sony's Tom Rothman, fans might not be fully prepared for what's to come. As he put it:
"It's '28 Years Later,' but not in any way a literal sequel."
Interesting, to say the least! Obviously, the movie could be considered more of a legacy sequel since it's releasing over two decades after the original and appears to star a mostly brand-new cast. There's no word on whether Murphy will once again play a leading role in "28 Years Later," or essentially pass the torch to a new group of protagonists (or, heck, merely serve as a cameo), but that and Rothman's comment that Murphy's role will unfold in "a surprising way" leaves plenty of food for thought. Either way, the main takeaway here is that the "Oppenheimer" star isn't letting a well-deserved Best Actor win stop him from going back to franchise filmmaking — as unusual as this move may be.
"28 Years Later" opens in theaters on June 20, 2025.