Boyle On Murphy’s “28 Years Later” Involvement

Filmmaker Danny Boyle has confirmed that Cillian Murphy won’t be showing up again on screen in the “28 Days Later” franchise until the end of the second film in the new trilogy.

Speaking with Business Insider and IGN, Boyle says the Oscar-winning star of the 2002 original film is “in the second one,” specifically towards the ending, but adds he “shouldn’t give away too much. I’ll get killed.”

The upcoming “28 Years Later” is the start of a new trilogy with the Nia DaCosta-directed second film “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” shot back-to-back with Boyle’s first film.

However the trilogy-capper is still only in development and isn’t expected to be greenlit unless “28 Years Later” becomes a box office hit. Boyle adds that incorporating Murphy could also help secure financing for the third film:

“All I can say is you have to wait for Cillian, but hopefully he will help us get the third film financed. Although each story [in the trilogy] completes itself, there’s a handover section to the next film as well. So it’s very ambitious.

We haven’t got the money for the third one yet. It will depend how the first one does, I guess. But hopefully if we do okay, they’ll give us the go-ahead for the money and for the third one. Everybody’s standing by for that, really. Including Cillian.”

The new film uses a very wide aspect ratio – 2.76:1 – which is often used for Panavision 70mm epics. As previously reported, the film uses iPhones to shoot certain sequences – with up to 20 phones at a time being used for single shots.

“28 Years Later” releases in cinemas on June 20th while “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” opens on January 16th 2026.

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