As reported earlier this year, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are teaming up for a long-awaited sequel to the 2002 cult fave post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later (and its less beloved follow-up, 28 Weeks Later). Following a bidding war, the movie has now been acquired by Sony, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
28 Years Later will be executive-produced by Cillian Murphy, the Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer actor who starred in the original film. Additionally, THR noted that he "could also possibly act in the project, although details are being quarantined."
When asked about his interest in reviving the franchise during the Oppenheimer press tour last year, Murphy said, "Like I've always said, I'm up for it. I'd love to do it. If Alex [Garland] thinks there's a script in it and Danny wants to do it, I'd love to do it."
Boyle and Garland's reunion on 28 Years Later also comes with a Part 2, which will also be written by the latter, while Boyle is only on board to direct the first project at this time.
With the Sony deal, each of the two films will have a budget in the range of $60 million USD — but THR pointed out that this may have changed during the high-stakes negotiations, where a theatrical release was reportedly of great import to the filmmakers.
