’28 Years Later III’ Going Forward at Sony; Alex Garland Writing and Cillian Murphy in Talks to Return

A third “28 Years Later” movie is moving forward at Sony. Sony Pictures has decided to proceed with the film following positive fan reactions to early screenings of the trilogy’s second installment, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” according to sources familiar with the development. Series screenwriter Alex Garland is writing the script for the film and Cillian Murphy is in talks to reprise his role as protagonist Jim from “28 Days Later” and “The Bone Temple.”

The zombie horror franchise began in 2001 with Fox Searchlight’s release of “28 Days Later,” directed by Danny Boyle. The influential and intense film grossed over $72 million at the worldwide box office on a reported $8 million budget. Fox Atomic— a short-lived Fox subsidiary— released an initial sequel, “28 Weeks Later” in 2007. The sequel had an entirely new cast and neither Boyle nor Garland were involved.

Earlier this summer, “28 Years Later” returned to form with Garland and Boyle returning to write and direct the film. The duo envisioned “28 Years” as a trilogy, Sony made the first two films, “28 Years Later” and “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” back to back before greenlighting the third.

“28 Years Later” performed well at the box office, opening to $30 million on June 20 and cumulatively grossing $151 million worldwide. “The Bone Temple” is directed by Nia DaCosta and releases in theaters on Jan. 16, but early screenings have evidently given Sony the confidence to complete the trilogy.

Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes all starred in the first “28 Years Later.” All but Comer will return in “The Bone Temple,” alongside franchise newcomers Erin Kellyman and Chi Lewis-Parry and Murphy, reprising his role from “28 Days Later” for the first time since the initial film’s release.

Though Murphy is in talks to come back again in the the third installment, no official announcement has been made regarding the cast. Boyle has expressed interest in directing the third installment in previous statements, but there has been no confirmation.

The news was first reported by Deadline.