After skipping the second film in the upcoming series, Danny Boyle will be directing the end of the new 28 Years Later trilogy.
Danny Boyle began the 28 Days Later series in 2002 before handing over stewardship of the British zombie horror series to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo for 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. As we’ve known for some time now, things are set to follow a similar path this time around, as Boyle resurrects the series with this year’s highly-anticipated 28 Years Later.
That film is arriving this summer and is set to be followed in January of 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. However, Boyle is once again stepping away for the sequel with Candyman director, Nia DaCosta coming in to direct the sequel. Both instalments have been written by Alex Garland, the wordsmith behind all of the 28 films.
We were wondering if Garland himself might fancy a crack at directing the planned third film, given that he’s a fabulous filmmaker and has been so instrumental in the series’ formation. According to Empire however, it will actually be Danny Boyle who will take on the directing duties for the planned trilogy capper and fifth overall film in the series.
In the piece, Garland reveals that the third film won’t be written until both 28 Years Later and its sequel are out, as he and Boyle want to see how audiences react to it before deciding on exactly how to close out their story. “This is very narratively ambitious,” he states. “Danny and I understood that. We tried to condense it, but its natural form felt like a trilogy.”
Read more: 28 Years Later | Looking ahead to the potential story in Danny Boyle’s sequel
Additionally, Andrew McDonald – one of the 28 Years Later's producers – has revealed that plans for Cillian Murphy to make a fleeting appearance in the film have now been scrapped. Murphy’s Jim was the star of the original film and the internet was so eager to get a glimpse of his returning character in 28 Years Later's trailer that it even got itself in an excited tizz over a ‘zombie lookalike’ which of course proved to be a false alarm. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jodie Comer are confirmed to be appearing though, so we have that to look forward to.
According to McDonald, plans for Murphy to appear in any of the upcoming films are now a little less sure. “We wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved,” says McDonald. “He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line. He’s involved at the moment as an executive producer and I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy.”
What’s your take on Boyle’s planned return for the third film? Are you glad the series’ original director is returning again or would you have rather seen a fresh face drafted in? Let us know in the comments below. We’ll bring you more on the upcoming 28 films as we hear it.
