Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reteaming for the long-awaited 28 Years Later horror sequel trilogy, with Cillian Murphy on board as executive producer. But will Murphy, who of course starred in 28 Days Later, be reprising his role? It sounds like the answer is a big YES.

Speaking with Deadline this week, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman was flat out asked if Cillian Murphy will be back to star, and his answer suggests that is indeed the plan.

“Yes,” Rothman answered, “but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.”

He continued, speaking more generally about 28 Years Later, “This is Danny at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it.”

Cillian Murphy played protagonist Jim in 28 Days Later back in 2002, a bicycle courier who ends up being one of the few survivors of the apocalyptic events of the hit infection movie.

28 Years Later arrives in theaters on June 20, 2025 from Sony. The cast also includes Jack O’Connell (Amy Winehouse: Back To Black), Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).

Alex Garland will write the first film and Boyle will return to direct. Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) will direct the second installment in the trilogy from Sony Pictures.

The original movie in 2002 starred Cillian Murphy and was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. In the smash hit horror film, “Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.”