We have confirmation that the zombie many thought in the recent 28 Years Later trailer (pictured above) was Cillian Murphy is not, in fact, the actor who starred in 2002’s 28 Days Later.
Murphy’s character in the first film of the franchise was named Jim, a bloke who woke up from a coma only to find that the world had been overridden by people infected with the “Rage Virus.” And while rumors that Murphy would be in the upcoming film in some form appeared to have been confirmed by none other than the studio head of Sony Motion Pictures, 28 Years Later producer Andrew Macdonald has recently stated the contrary.
In an interview with Empire, Macdonald said that while everyone wanted Murphy involved, he’s not in the first film of the new trilogy. “He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line,” he said.
Macdonald did confirm that Murphy was still involved with the project as an executive producer and reiterated that he hoped “we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy.”
The second film, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is directed by Nia DaCosta and has already been shot. Does Murphy have a cameo in that one? Seems unlikely unless Macdonald is purposefully being coy, but that still leaves the third planned film, which Sony will likely not greenlight until the box office results for the first two films come in.
28 Years Later, directed by Danny Boyle with a script from Alex Garland (the duo who brought us 28 Days Later back in 2002) premieres in theaters on June 20, 2025. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is set to come out sometime in 2026.
