Are We Getting 28 Days Later Threequel Now That Cillian Murphy Wants In?
Award winning director Danny Boyle and actor Cillian Murphy (recently known for his role of Tommy Shelby in the BBC crime drama series Peaky Blinders) have teased their plans to reunite for a 28 Days Later threequel as they celebrate Boyle's post-apocalyptic horror drama's 20th anniversary.
In an interview with NME, Murphy said he does like the idea of having another film.
"Every time I do bump into Danny or Alex [Garland] I always mention it [threequel idea]. Because I showed it to my kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it. It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that's 20 years old. So yeah, I love the idea and it's very appealing to me," Murphy said.
The Shallow Grave and Trainspotting director has teased that scriptwriter Alex Garland penned 28 Months Later a couple of years ago and that he would love to shoot it.
"I'd be very tempted [to direct it]. It feels like a very good time actually. It's funny, I hadn't thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered 'Bang, this script!' which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we'll see… who knows?" Boyle said.
The original 2002 movie was followed by 28 Weeks Later, which was released in 2007 starring Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The first movie tells the story of Jim (Cillian Murphy ), a bicycle messenger who wakes up after a coma to learn that a mysterious, contagious and aggression-inducing virus called Rage has swept across the United Kingdom after an infected chimpanzee escapes a lab thanks to animal activists. The virus turns humans into zombies and London is full of them.
Commentators on Reddit had a good laugh following the announcement. Maybe 28 minutes later then, one user joked. See it go from the lab to the rest of the population. That was just 28 Seconds Later, another replied in the same fashion.
Another redditor suggested the crew team up on 28 Years Later, which could be a movie about people who have isolated themselves on an island in Scotland. So, 28 years later, the virus is "cured". But the world is a different place and the trauma has faded. And what about 28 Decades Later about zombies in space, reads yet another comments.
And finally, 28 Centuries Later... it's zombies in space vs robots. Well, 28 movies later and we've ran out of ideas!
With a budget of $8 million 28 Days Later earned more than $85 million at the box office worldwide.