Set almost three decades into a dystopian Britain plagued by a flesh eating virus, Cillian Murphy will finally return to our screens in the franchise ‘that changed everything’ for him.
Despite having featured in a handful of films prior to the 2002 zombie epic 28 Days Later, Murphy’s starring role as Jim, a bicycle courier who wakes from a coma to find the UK had been ravaged by zombies, proved to be the making of him as an actor.
His career snowballed from then and he notably won an Oscar earlier this year for best performance from an actor in leading role for his part in Oppenheimer.
Speaking about the possibility of completing the trilogy for the 28 film franchise, in February Murphy told Variety: “I’ve always said I would love to be involved because that movie changed everything for me and I have great affection for it and for those guys Alex [Garland], and Danny [Boyle].”
That dream has now become a reality following the trailer of 28 Years Later having been released this morning (December 10), with confirmation that Alex Garland and Danny Boyle co-wrote the new film, with the latter also directing it.
On December 6, Sony Pictures uploaded a poster to its Instagram account of the film which included the writing ‘time didn’t heal anything’.
At the end of the first film, the only one to feature Murphy, shows his character Jim, alongside Naomie Harris as Selena and Hannah, played by Megan Banks, seemingly get rescued by the RAF (Royal Air Force) as a plane flies over them while they unfurl a huge banner that read ‘HELLO’.
But if the trailer to 28 Years Later is anything to go by, things didn’t go as swimmingly for Jim as we had hoped.
It has been confirmed that Murphy will reprise his role as Jim in the film, but with it now starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer, as well as Ralph Fiennes, there may not have been enough room for a live-and-well Murphy.
Instead, he appears to have returned as a Zombie.
Taking to Reddit fans were shocked by his undead appearance in the trailer. One user posted: “Omg zombie Cillian Murphy!”
“The one second shot of Cillian Murphy is giving me a bone deep sense of terror,” a second typed.
“Seeing the ‘hero’ end up like that makes it feel more ‘real’ than a movie should have any right to lol.”
While a third added: “It’s almost like a greatest hits collection of the last two movies.
“Zombies in the church, the wave coming over the hill, the tunnel fight in the dark.
“And was that Cillian Murphy at 1:47?!”
A fourth penned: “We already know Cillian has a small part in this one, and a much bigger role in part 2. I’m guessing it’s not a spoiler at all, we just don’t have the proper context for it.”
Fiennes has previously stated that the film will be a trilogy in itself, with two of them having already been shot – 28 Years Later, and 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple.
Cillian Murphy will return to our screens for the 28 franchise again, this time as a zombie.
We’ve seen the iconic actor don various accents across a number of hit films, dress up as a scarecrow and more – but now he’ll return in the epic undead thriller on the opposing team to which he is used to batting for in the 28 franchise.
The 28 Years Later trailer was dropped this morning (December 10) ahead of its release in June 2025. Take a look:
Danny Boyle will direct the film once again, and it is set to star Kick-Ass‘ Aaron Taylor-Johnson as well as Killing Eve star Jodie Comer.
Back in 2002, 28 Days Later was released in cinemas around the world, and was led by a young Murphy. Five years after that a sequel came in the form of 28 Weeks Later which Jeremy Renner starred in.
Boyle was in charge of directing the first of the trilogy before Juan Carlos Fresnadillo sat in the director’s chair for 28 Weeks Later.
Now, after a long wait – 18 years, to be precise – 28 Years Later will hit screens next year, with the teaser trailer already being hailed as one of the ‘best of the year’ by fans… although it proved that Murphy didn’t exactly thrive after surviving the first film.
Taking to Reddit, one user commented: “The one second shot of Cillian Murphy is giving me a bone deep sense of terror.
“Seeing the ‘hero’ end up like that makes it feel more ‘real’ than a movie should have any right to lol.”
Meanwhile, over on Twitter fans were getting equally excited. One person tweeted: “When elements of George A Romero and The Walking Dead come together, we could be getting one of the best horror movies this generation.”
A second added: “Zombie Cillian Murphy?”
“28 days later was the first zombie movie I watched as a kid. Now year later, I’m a man! And exited for 28 years later!” a third typed.
It’s fair to say we’ve all waited a long, long time for this – but that won’t be the case for the next movie in the franchise after 28 Years Later as Ralph Fiennes, who will also feature in the film, has previously explained there will be two more sequels – with 28 Years Later II: The Bone Temple aimed to follow suit.
In an interview with GQ, Taylor-Johnson, who is one of the favorites to be named as the next James Bond, spoke about returning to work alongside Boyle.
The energy, the enthusiasm, and the charisma of this filmmaker is infectious,” he said.
“He’s childlike, and has this bubbling energy that, oh my god, just reignited the love and passion for acting in me.
“Not that I don’t have it innate in me, but the excitement and the beauty of imagination. I think that movie allows for all of that because it’s got such an incredible set u
Cillian Murphy has garnered plenty of praise and attention in recent years for his performances in Peaky Blinders and, more recently, Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, which was released last summer.
However, while Murphy has become a great lead actor in recent years – even winning an Oscar for his leading role in Oppenheimer – he has no problem being a strong antagonist when necessary.
In fact, some of his most critically acclaimed performances throughout the 2000s featured him being the primary villain rather than a protagonist.
One such film in which he played the primary antagonist was the movie Red Eye, which came out in 2005 and starred Rachel McAdams as the lead playing Lisa Reisert, a hotel manager.
The film, which recently arrived on Netflix, has gained plenty of attention from viewers, many of whom had never seen or heard of the film.
One scene in which Murphy’s performance especially connected with viewers was when he let it be known that he had kidnapped the father of McAdams’ character and that she had no choice but to comply with his demands.
That scene, in particular, gained traction on Netflix’s Facebook page, where commenters complimented Murphy’s creepy performance.
“He is effortlessly creepy in this scene,” one user said, “What a fantastic performance. A great actor indeed.”
“[Cillian] was so evil in this,” another comment noted. “Rachel and Cillian Murphy had great chemistry in this movie!”
While Murphy’s performance in Red Eye has been highly praised, both at the time of its release and since the movie landed on Netflix, the actor is not too big of a fan of the 2005 flick, though he has given plenty of praise to McAdams when speaking about it in the past.
In an interview with GQ, Murphy said: “I think it’s the duality of it. It’s why I wanted to play it. That two thing, the nice guy and the bad guy in one.
“The only reason it appealed to me is you could do that [snaps his fingers] turn, you know? I love Rachel McAdams and we had fun making it. But I don’t think it’s a good movie. It’s a good B movie.”
Dreamworks Pictures
Though Red Eye features a strong performance from Murphy in its own right, the Irish actor’s 2005 is best known for a different film in which he played the antagonist.
Batman Begins saw Murphy play the villainous Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known as Scarecrow, opposite Christian Bale’s Batman.
The film also marks Murphy’s first appearance in a film directed by Christopher Nolan, which marked the beginning of a regular partnership between the actor and legendary director.
Nolan and Murphy would go on to work with each other several times since, with the actor reprising his role as Scarecrow in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, as well as appearing in Inception in 2010, Dunkirk in 2017, and – of course – playing the titular role in the aforementioned Oppenheimer in 2023.
People are flooding to social media in praise of Cillian Murphy’s speech at the 2024 Oscars.
At the 96th Academy Awards ceremony last night (10 March), the Irish-born actor took home the award for Best Actor for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
And there’s one part of his speech you may’ve missed or not quite understood and that’s because Murphy concluded his speech with a sentence spoken in Irish. Here’s Murphy giving possibly the best acceptance speech ever heard:
The 47-year-old starred in the 2023 release as the titular character, taking on the role of American theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer – the man who created the atomic bomb.
The performance saw him take home the award for Best Actor and subsequently become the first Irish-born person to win the accolade.
In his speech Murphy said: “I’m a little overwhelmed. Thank you to The Academy, Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, it’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years, I owe you more than I can say.
“Every single crew member, every single cast member on Oppenheimer you guys carried me through. All my fellow nominees, I remain in awe of you guys, truly.”
The actor went on to thank his ‘incredible team’ alongside his wife and other members of his family, however, it’s his final comment which shouldn’t have slipped your notice.
Murphy continued his speech by noting he’s a ‘very proud Irish man standing here tonight’.
He resolved: “You know, we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world so I would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere. Go raibh mile maith agat.”
‘Go raibh mile maith agat’ is Irish for ‘a thousand thank yous,’ according to Machnamh.com.
And the actor’s conclusion of his speech in Irish Gaelic has seen an outpouring of praise for him online.
A clip of Murphy’s speech was shared to Reddit thread r/ireland by u/TombstonePete and people flooded to the post to weigh in on the actor’s use of the language
U/MIM86 said: “We hear ‘Go raibh míle maith agat’ so much nationally but to hear it being spoken by Cillian at the Oscars like this hits a bit differently. Absolute legend!”
“I very rarely care for celebrities and awards and I feel weird about national pride. But f**k me I am chuffed for the man. Hearing Irish being spoke on stage at this level of event made me smile,” u/Thebunsenburger added.
And U/Saint_EDGEBOI commented: “Absolute class act. Nice little message towards the end that I’m interpreting as a nod to Ireland’s support of a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s important for us to be the nation that always advocates for peace.”
