Danny Boyle Says Next ‘28 Years Later’ Movie Is Written for Cillian Murphy, but ‘We’ve Got to Raise the Money’

Despite receiving strong critical and audience reviews, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s planned “28 Years Later” trilogy has sagged at the box office, and Boyle says that if a third and final installment is going to happen, it will need to find financing. While speaking during an audience talk-back for his upcoming film “Ink,” which tells the story of Rupert Murdoch’s rise to power with the British tabloid The Sun, Boyle was asked about “28 Years Later” and the chances of seeing the series completed. He said that while Garland has completed a “fantastic” script, the project still lacks the funding. “We’ve got to raise the money,” he said. “28 Years Later,” which was released in summer 2025, had a decent run at the box office grossing $151 million against a $60 million budget. But the trilogy’s second installment, “The Bone Temple,” collapsed at the box office this past winter with just $58.5 million grossed worldwide despite scoring an even higher Rotten Tomatoes score than the original “28 Days Later” released in 2002. When the “28 Years Later” trilogy was first announced, Boyle, Garland, and Sony’s Columbia Pictures planned to film the first two installments back-to-back, with Nia DaCosta directing “The Bone Temple.” “The overall arc is outlined, but we’ve got to raise the money first. And that will depend on how the first film performs,” Boyle said in June 2025. Sony had greenlit the trilogy finale last December before “The Bone Temple” had even been released. But after the poor performance of that installment, it remains to be seen if Boyle will be able to find the financiers to get the film out. If he does, “28 Years Later 3” will have one actor that the previous two installments didn’t: Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy, who will reprise his role as the former bike courier Jim who was the protagonist of “28 Days Later.” In the final scene of “The Bone Temple,” Jim had a surprise cameo as he was shown tutoring his daughter when the pair discover “28 Years Later” protagonists Spike and Kellie being chased by a group of infected runners and rush to their aid. Boyle says the film will be a full circle moment for Jim and Spike alike, completing the story “in a beautiful, mathematically perfect way.” Boyle’s next film, “Ink,” will be released in select theaters in the U.S. by Netflix on Dec. 11 ahead of a streaming release on Jan. 8.