Alex Garland is expected to write the scripts for all three of the 28 Years Later movies, but apparently didn’t want to direct them. Danny Boyle will only be directing the first one. For the second film, possibly titled 28 Years Later Part 2, he’ll be passing the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta. Production on DaCosta’s sequel will begin immediately after Boyle wraps filming on his. They wanted to have the sequel director signed on before filming on the first movie begins, as they want to “make sure each director is on the same page in regard to the story while also having time to bring their own vision to life.”
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While doing the press rounds for Oppenheimer last year, Murphy told Collider, “I was talking to Danny Boyle recently, and I said, ‘Danny, we shot the movie at the end of 2000.’ So I think we’re definitely approaching the 28 Years Later. But like I’ve always said, I’m up for it. I’d love to do it. If Alex [Garland] thinks there’s a script in it and Danny wants to do it, I’d love to do it.“ Despite the fact that Murphy is willing to reprise the role of Jim and is on board 28 Years Later as an executive producer, we still haven’t heard confirmation that he’ll actually be in the movie. While talking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast a couple months ago, Murphy said (with thanks to Coming Soon for the transcription), “It’s for (Danny Boyle and Alex Garland) to speak about, I suppose, but I think it’s been brewing for a while. The first movie was so important for me, as an actor. I love working with those guys. Alex has an idea. And Danny directing is just huge. Watch this space.”
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While we wait to hear for sure if Cillian Murphy is or isn’t in the movie, other casting rumors have been floating around. According to industry scooper Daniel Richtman, Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) and Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) are in talks to play the lead roles. Details on the characters they might be playing are, of course, being kept under wraps.
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There was a bidding war over the distribution rights to the 28 Years Later trilogy, with Warner Bros. and Sony emerging as the final competitors – and Sony taking the win in the end. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Each movie will have a budget in the $60 million range but it’s unclear how goalposts or compensation may have changed during the high-stakes negotiations. A theatrical release was of great import to the filmmakers.” Sony had an edge in this race due to the fact that it’s headed up by Tom Rothman, who used to be at Fox and worked with Boyle on eight different movies there. Release dates have not yet been announced.
A sequel trilogy? Ffs, I love 28DL as much as anyone else, but I think a Magic 8 Ball would be able to run a production studio better than Hollywood at this point. Why would you ever greenlight three whole films to revive a 17+ year old zombie IP without testing the waters with just one good entry??
28 Days Later was also never a massive blockbuster movie. It was kind of a cult hit. A sequel titled 28 Years Later will definitely bring in some kind of audience, but I am doubtful about three back-to-back movies. The Strangers is doing the same thing. Why? What historical evidence is there to suggest that this is a smart idea? I just can't imagine niche horror franchises are prime material for Marvel-ization.
Wow, I’m usually the first one to dig on a movie but I thought 28 Weeks Later rocked and really expanded the universe. Now I’ll have to go watch it again.
Yeah, I saw this in theaters with a bunch of friends when it came out. I was the only one out of like 5 or 6 of us who hated it. This movie follows the Bad Movie Rule of: "characters put themselves into peril only because they make the stupidest possible decisions all the time."
As he's the exec producer and the big draw on the acting front, he'll be in front of the camera probably for the trilogy (as long as he wants to be anyway). I think they are just keeping their powder dry for a big announcement to help build momentum closer to the release date.
My worry after reading that brief blurb is that Cillian would be in the first movie for ~10 minutes, basically just to pass the torch onto the new protagonist(s), who this trilogy would be centered around.
I'm tired of all these "pass the torch" movies, and I'm worried they're using the long rumored/joked about "28 Years Later" to start a trilogy, rather than close out a trilogy.
I'll wait and see how it turns out it. 28 Days Later is one of those rare movies where I actually disliked it the first time I saw it but ended up watching it again a few days later and loved it.
Its the obvious way to start a legacy sequel trilogy.
Usually the old cast/characters just aren't capable of new adventures of the same kind the made the franchise popular.
Of course Jurassic World tried to do it differently by just setting a new story in the same world but the invited then old cast for the third film which was gratuitous. A scene where a small group of people sneak past a killer dinosaur loses it edge when its a small crowd. Then add the modern and legacy casts both needing their own arc and you get a film that over stays its welcome.
This would be the 4th movie. Everyone keeps forgetting about the first movie.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_(film)
I know it is slower paced than the others but come on you can't just ignore it and pretend it isn't in the franchise.
Fuck yeah. I saw it last night and haven’t stopped thinking about it.
Which is interesting. I mean, it’s all about the profession. The characters weren’t deeply explored, which is a small knock for me. Especially because it sidestepped the actual cause of the civil war and focused on the work they do. The detachment…is what made the movie. It left me thinking so much about how hard that must be. I wanted to be a reporter when I was younger. But I can’t imagine.
The tension was excellent, I loved the fact that there were genuinely funny moments, the story wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but the element of their profession and fighting through what makes it tough made that whole sort of cookie cutter “road trip through dangerous territory” really fuckin interesting. And the last third of the movie? Goddamn. I really loved the whole thing. I heard someone say it was too slow at the beginning, but I’m a big David lynch fan, so that thought didn’t even cross my mind lol