Over two decades after the release of the genre-defining zombie film 28 Days Later, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are returning to the realm of horror with the long-awaited 28 Years Later. Essentially helping to jump-start the zombie craze of the 2000s, 28 Days Later follows an average bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) who awakens from a month-long coma to find all of London has been besieged by a zombie rage virus. Eschewing the tropes of earlier zombie media, the walkers of 28 Days Later were faster, meaner, and more frightening than their predecessors.
Though Garland and Boyle were only involved peripherally, a sequel was released in 2007 entitled 28 Weeks Later which continued the post-apocalyptic story and was well-received. Meanwhile, the 28 Days Later franchise helped to bring the zombie film back into vogue, and is directly responsible for movies like the Dawn of the Dead remake, spoofs like Shaun of the Dead, and the ongoing Walking Dead universe. Now, Boyle and Garland are returning to deliver even more terror in 28 Years Later, and the creative duo have big plans for an extended sequel series.
28 Years Later Latest News
Cillian Murphy Won’t Be In 28 Years Later & Other Details
Even though the movie has already dropped a trailer, new details about the cast of 28 Years Later are still being revealed, including that Cillian Murphy won’t be in the horror sequel. Despite the fact that previous reports stated he’d be in the film (and the fact that he’s a listed producer), Murphy won’t be playing the role of Jim in 28 Years Later. However, producer Andrew Macdonald did confirm that Murphy could appear in the upcoming sequel, 28 Years Later: Bone Temple.
Read what Macdonald had to say here:
[On] this, 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. 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.
Other information about the cast was released simultaneously, and new details about Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer’s characters have been revealed. Taylor-Johnson and Comer play a married couple who live in the community of Holy Island. Together they raise their son, Spike (Alfie Williams), whose rite-of-passage trip to the UK mainland is essentially the impetus for the movie’s main plot.
Danny Boyle added more details, saying:
It’s a closed and necessarily very tight community. There are very strict defense laws, obviously, to survive that long in what is effectively an ongoing hostile environment. They’ve created a successful community, as they see it.
28 Years Later Release Date
The Zombie Franchise Returns In 2025
With many updates coming in the months since the project was formally announced, 28 Years Later has officially set a release date as well. Though it will take a while to arrive, the long-awaited zombie threequel is slated to premiere on June 20, 2025. The summer release slot is befitting a potential blockbuster, and there have been no announcements regarding the release dates of movies two and three in the planned trilogy.
Candyman director Nia DaCosta has directed the second movie in the trilogy, 28 Years Later II: The Bone Temple.
28 Years Later Cast Details
Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Jodie Comer Star
The cast of 28 Years Later is beginning to take shape, though it is largely shrouded in mystery as well. Cillian Murphy starred in 28 Days Later and though his character survived, Jim was absent in the first sequel. Though he’s attached as a producer, Murphy won’t appear in 28 Years Later, though the door is open for him to appear in the sequels. New cast members include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who will co-star alongside Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes. Comer and Taylor-Johnson play a married couple who are raising their son, Spike (Alfie Williams).
Jack O’Connell has also been cast, though his role is intriguing because it will grow throughout the trilogy. O’Connell’s unnamed character will play a part in all three movies.
The known cast of 28 Years Later includes:
Actor | 28 Years Later Role | |
|---|---|---|
Aaron Taylor-Johnson | Unknown | 
|
Jodie Comer | Unknown | 
|
Ralph Fiennes | Unknown | 
|
Jack O’Connell | Unknown | 
|
Erin Kellyman | Unknown | 
|
Edvin Ryding | Unknown | 
|
Alfie Williams | Spike | 
|
Geoffrey Newland | Unknown | 
|
Joe Blakemore | Unknown | 
|
Kim Allan | Unknown | 
|
28 Years Later Story Details
Three Decades Of The Rage Virus
Though there were few details about the sequel throughout its production phase, the plot of 28 Years Later has now been revealed. With the 28 Days Later virus once again at the forefront of the story, the film catches up with the remnants of human society in the 30 years since the outbreak. Some people live on a heavily fortified island, but when a small expedition leaves their sanctuary, they discover a world darker than they could ever imagine.
28 Years Later Trailer
Watch The Trailers Below
In December 2024, a teaser for 28 Years Later was revealed, though it was rather scant on details. The quick teaser features a mostly black screen with occasional flashes of images of an upside down skull and the biohazard symbol. The teaser’s only sound is the Morse code for the word “Tuesday,” which suggests the reveal of a larger trailer.
A few days after the teaser dropped, the full trailer for 28 Years Later finally arrived along with a slew of interesting story details. After recapping the origins of the rage virus, the trailer then jumps forward to show what happened more than 10,000 days later. With a strict quarantine enforced, some survivors have created a new society on a heavily-fortified island. However, when a few residents decide to venture to the mainland, they discover a world of pure terror.
28 Years Later follows a group of survivors living on an isolated island nearly three decades after the rage virus outbreak. Venturing into the quarantine zone of the mainland, they uncover dangerous secrets and transformations among both the infected and other surviving factions.
- Director
-
Danny Boyle
- Cast
-
Jodie Comer
, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
, Jack O’Connell
, Alfie Williams
, Ralph Fiennes
, Joe Blakemore
, Celi Crossland
, Geoffrey Newland
, Erin Kellyman
, Chi Lewis-Parry
, Nathan Hall
, Angus Neill
, Edvin Ryding
, Cillian Murphy - Franchise(s)
-
28 Days Later
- Release Date
-
June 20, 2025