Fans have been begging for another installment of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later for years… and they’re finally getting one. THR reports that Boyle and Garland are reuniting for 28 Years Later, a new sequel which is expected to be shopped to studios, streamers, and other potential buyers in just a few days.
28 Days Later was followed by 28 Weeks Later, but Boyle and Garland were only involved as executive producers. THR states that Boyle will direct 28 Years Later, with the hope being that it could launch a new trilogy. Garland will write all three movies, with the budget for each said to be somewhere around $75 million. That would place the new movie well above the $8 million budget of the first and the $15 million budget of the second.
After all these years, it’s hard to believe the 28 Days Later sequel might actually be happening, but the pair finally began seriously discussing it last year. “A few years ago an idea materialized in my head for what would be really 28 Years Later,” Garland said last year. “Danny always liked the idea.” Boyle added, “So we’re talking about it quite seriously, quite diligently. If he doesn’t want to direct it himself, I’ll be well up for it if we can execute a similarly good idea.“
The original movie starred Cillian Murphy as Jim, a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover that a “rage virus” has spread throughout the country, causing a total societal collapse. What this new sequel will bring remains to be seen, but Murphy has said that he’s game to return. “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,” Murphy said last year. “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 and Danny wants to do it, I’d love to do it.“
What would you like to see in 28 Years Later?