Cillian Murphy won’t appear in ’28 Years Later’ after all

nme.com:

Cillian Murphy won’t be making an appearance in this year’s 28 Years Later after all – find out more below.28 Years Later, which is due for release in June 2025 will mark the long-awaited return of the beloved franchise, and will follow new leads Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes.

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland – who helmed the acclaimed 2002 original – return to direct and write respectively.Last year, it was reported that Murphy – who led the original 2002 film 28 Days Later – would be involved in the new sequel trilogy as an executive producer, and that he would be returning for the new film “in a surprising way and in a way that grows [the character]”.This was further sparked by a zombie in the 28 Years Later trailer who eerily resembled Murphy, though this was later confirmed to be a character is played by model and art dealer Angus Neill instead.Now, however, in a new interview with Empire, producer Andrew Macdonald has confirmed that Cillian will not appear onscreen in the upcoming 2025 film, though there’s hope for his appearance in one of its two planned sequels: “We wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved.

He is not in the first film, but I’m hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line.”Macdonald continued: “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.”The 2025 film will kick off a planned trilogy for the series, which will see Garland write for all, but Boyle directing the first.

The second film in the trilogy 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is being directed by Nia DaCosta and has been revealed to be hitting cinemas just months after 28 Years Later.Empire has since confirmed that.