Much like the fast-running zombies at the center of each story, talk of a potential 28 Months Later simply won’t die. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Danny Boyle’s relentless low budget apocalyptic thriller, which pulled in over $85 million at the box office on an $8 million budget, drew rave reviews from critics, launched the career of leading man Cillian Murphy and is directly cited as one of the driving forces behind the resurgent popularity of the subgenre that followed in its wake.
It wouldn’t be an understatement to call it perhaps the single most influential zombie movie of the 21st Century looking at how the next decade unfolded for cinema’s flesh eating hordes of the undead, and 28 Days Later even got a sequel of its own. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo took over behind the camera, and while it didn’t fare quite as well either critically or commercially, it’s a solid second installment nonetheless.
Over the last fourteen years, talk has regularly reared its head in regards to 28 Months Later, with Boyle stoking the flames of speculation himself on a regular basis, while Weeks star Imogen Poots revealed last year that she’d love to return. Murphy is the latest to admit he’d definitely consider it, after being asked in a new interview if it’s something that interests him.
“I would never say never. I loved to make that movie. Was a long time ago. But sure.”
That’s a very vague and non-committal answer if ever there was one, and perhaps the actor simply isn’t interested in returning to the well, even if the first film served as the springboard to the success he’s enjoyed ever since. Danny Boyle also attaches himself to a lot of projects that never get made, so there’s an equal chance of 28 Months Later ending up in either the discard pile or active development.
